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I 



REDEMPTION; 



THE NEW SONG IN HEAVEN 



TEST OF TRUTH AND DUTY ON EARTH. 



BY ROBERT PHILIP, / ^ 

OF MABERLY CHAPEL. 



" Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." 

The Lord's Prayer. 



NEW-YORK; 
D. APPLETON & Co., 200 BROADWAY. 

WILEY & LONG, 161 BROADWAY. 

1835. 



Ok 



TO 

JOHN BROADLEY WILSON, ESQ., 

THESE ESSAYS 

ARE INSCRIBED AS A MEMORIAL 

OF GRATITUDE FOR HINTS, 

ON THE APPLICATION OF COMMON SENSE 

TO THE 

STUDY OF DIVINE TRUTH, 

RECEIVED IN EARLY LIFE, 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



Newington-Green, j 
1834. < 



PREFACE. 



The principle of these Essays will not be 
new to my readers. It runs through both Se- 
ries of my Guides. It is, indeed, the source 
and centre of all my principles. I neither un- 
derstood nor enjoyed the Gospel, until I tried to 
do the will of God on earth, just as it is done 
in heaven. I never felt quite sure that my 
creed was right, until I saw that the creed of 
saints and angels before the throne could not 
be wrong. This one fact settled my faith. It has 
also been a clue by which many have been ex- 
tricated from the labyrinths of speculation and 
suspense. I have thus seen its worth : and as 
those who have profited by it from mere hints 
say that it is wanted more widely than I sus- 



VI PREFACE. 

pect, I have expanded the hints into arguments 
and appeals, and endeavoured to make both 
bear upon real life and godliness. The Trea- 
tise is indeed too brief for the subject : it is 
however pointed, so far as it goes. 

Newington-Green, 1834. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
I. DESIGN OF THE NEW SONG . . 9 

II. APOCALYPSE OF THE NEW SONG . 30 

III. BURDEN OF THE NEW SONG . . 41 

IV. MYSTERIES OF THE NEW SONG . 55 

V. NEWNESS OF THE NEW SONG . . 72 

VI. PROVIDENCE AND THE NEW SONG 105 

VII. REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF THE NEW 

SONG 123 

VIII. DOXOLOGY OF THE NEW SONG . 141 

IX. PERPETUITY OF THE NEW SONG 

EXPLAINED 162 

t 
X. RELATIVE APPEALS OF THE NEW 

SONG 184 

XI. ETEENAL REDEMPTION . . . 206 



3¥o. I. 



DESIGN OF THE NEW SONG. 

Any one who remembers the character of 
John will perceive at a glance, that what was 
chiefly shown to him in Patmos, when " a door 
was opened in heaven," was just what John 
would be best pleased to see— the person, glory, 
and supremacy of Christ. That great sight 
would have satisfied him, even if he had seen 
nothing else. Nothing else could have so de- 
lighted him ; for, with no one else in heaven 
had he enjoyed such sweet communion on earth. 
He had not only leaned on the Saviour's bosom 
at the Last Supper, he had also been singled 
out on Calvary, as the best Guardian of the 
Holy Virgin, and had been from the first, em- 



10 DESIGN OF 

phatically, "the disciple whom Jesus loved." 
We do not, therefore, wonder that he was chief- 
ly delighted with seeing him whom his soul 
loved so enthroned, adored, and obeyed in 
heaven. That vision was a full-orbed form of 
the place which Christ held in John's heart. 
He thus saw, in heaven, the perfection of what 
he himself felt on earth. 

Does then the prominence given to the glory 
of the Lamb, in the visions of Eternity, delight 
us chiefly ? Would we have been satisfied with 
less about Christ, if there had been more about 
heaven itself? When we think of it, either as 
a state or a place, many questions spring up in 
our minds, and some of them are very interest- 
ing as well as very curious : such as, How do 
spirits communicate their ideas to each other? — 
by what tokens can those who knew each other 
only in the body recognise each other when 
disembodied ? What kind of interchange of 
confidence and love takes place between human 
and angelic spirits in the mansions of glory? — 
and especially, what kind and degree of fellow- 
ship with God is permitted at the eternal throne ? 
Will it be frequent, or so full as to solve all 



THE NEW SONG. 11 

mysteries, and satisfy all curiosity, and leave 
nothing to wish for, for ever 1 Such questions 
may be useless now, but they are not unnatural. 
Who can help wishing to know what intimacy 
he may expect to enjoy with his own family in 
heaven ? What relation he will stand in to the 
original inhabitants of the place ? What facili- 
ties will be afforded to him for acquainting him- 
self with the past history of that world ; with 
its natural history as the paradise of God, and 
with its moral connexion with all the worlds in 
the universe? I suggest these questions, just 
that we may see whether a revelation of heaven, 
which should have enabled us to answer them 
satisfactorily, would have pleased us more than 
one, in which the glory of Christ as the Lamb 
slain is the chief thing. Now, however we 
may feel on this subject, there are many who 
would have preferred to know more about the 
native spirits, than about the glory of Christ ; 
more about the forms of heavenly language, 
than about the worship that is conducted in it ; 
more about the aspects of nature, as they will 
appear in heaven, than about the New Song of 
saints or angels. Any thing in heaven is more 
b2 



12 DESIGN OF 

interesting to the world at large, than the Sa- 
viour. 

Now this is just the reason why nothing else 
is so much shown to the world in the visions of 
heaven. The great tendency of man is to over- 
look or underrate the Saviour, and therefore the 
great characteristic of the apocalypse of immor- 
tality is to make Him " all and all." It is 
therefore, although in another sense, as much 
adapted to the real wants of the world, as it was 
to the wishes of John. It suited him, because 
it fell in so completely with all his desires and 
taste ; and it is equally suited to our chief dan- 
gers. Nothing in heaven could save or sanc- 
tify on earth, but the blood of the Lamb ; and 
therefore, nothing is so much shown or cele- 
brated there. 

This is a fine arrangement ; equally wise 
and kind. Christ crucified is the first sight that 
meets our eyes, whenever we look into heaven 
by the light of revelation. If we look to the 
throne, there he is in the midst of it, as a Lamb 
that has been slain : if we look to the altar,— 
there he is, as interceding by his own blood : if 
we look on the green pastures and the still 



THE NEW SONG. 13 

waters of Paradise,— there he is, as a Lamb 
leading the whole flock : even when we look at 
the armies of heaven, as they are the embodied 
hosts of Providence for mercy or judgment- 
there he is at their head, " in a vesture dipt in 
blood." Thus, no man can get a sight of hea- 
ven by that door which God has opened, without 
seeing Christ as an atoning sacrifice every 
where, and every where the glory of the place 
and of all the people. So in listening at that 
door, the sounds, as well as the sights, are all 
full of Christ crucified. Even when there is 
" silence in heaven," the angels are all looking 
unto " the sufferings of Christ." And when 
they sing together, in vain we listen, for a newer 
song than the New Song : " Worthy is the 
Lamb that was slain !" is their ever-new and 
everlasting anthem. Nothing new in creation, 
whatever worlds or wonders may be springing 
into being in the spaces of infinity; nothing neW 
in providence, whatever events may be transpi- 
ring on earth, or throughout the universe, stops 
or lowers this song. It swells in all, and over all 
their other shouts and songs. And as to any 
man hearing any thing from the lips of the hu- 
b 3 



14 DESIGN OF 

man spirits he tries to look or listen for, but 
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us," 
it is impossible. 

" Ten thousand thousand are their tongues, 
But all their hearts are one." 

And this is their everlasting melody : " To 
Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins 
in his own blood, be glory for ever." 

This then, is the leading characteristic of 
both the enjoyments and the engagements of 
heaven. The first design of the New Song is, 
therefore, to arrest and rivet our attention, by 
the 'peculiarities of heaven. We see nothing, 
hear nothing, when the veil is drawn aside, but 
what centres in the Saviour. He is all and all, 
in all things there. 

Now this is not the heaven that man natu- 
rally expects or desires. There is indeed much 
in it that any and every man must love. No 
man can dislike its scenes or its society, its rest 
or its rapture, its exemption from all evil, or its 
immortality of all good. In vain however do 
we try to look at these things by themselves, or 
apart from Christ, whilst we look at heaven in 
the glass of revelation. We are not using that 



THE NEW SONG. 15 

glass, when we hope for a better world, because 
we wish for a better world. It is not the hea- 
ven of the Bible we are thinking about, when 
we think of future happiness, of which Christ is 
not both the source and centre. The Maho- 
metan paradise may be a grosser fancy, but it 
is not a greater fiction, than the better world 
which they look for who overlook the person 
or the work of Christ. Those who are not seek- 
ing heaven by his atonement and in his pre- 
sence, are as arrant dreamers as the American 
Indian who expects an island where 

" His faithful dog shall bear him company." 

It is necessary to be thus plain, even if the 
plainness be deemed vulgarity, in connexion 
with this subject. The popular heaven, or the 
hereafter of which the generality think and 
speak, is only just such another refinement upon 
British ideas of happiness, as the paradise of 
Mahomet is upon Asiatic, or the hunting groves 
of the Indian upon savage life. The popular 
heaven has indeed a distinct reference to good- 
ness, and some reference to holiness, on the part 
of its expectants ; and so far, it is more spiritual 
than a heathen or an oriental heaven. Christ 



16 DESIGN OF 

is named too in connexion with it. But, in ge- 
neral, he is only named, even when his " merits" 
are mentioned as a ground of hope. This is a 
mere phrase, or form of speech, in the lips of 
the multitude. Thousands and tens of thousands 
use it who never paused to consider or ask 
what it meant. All that they mean by it is, 
merely a hope that the merit of the Saviour will 
make up for the defects of their own virtue. 
And even that hope is prayerless, until they are 
becoming speechless or afraid of death. In a 
word, nothing is so little thought about, in con- 
nexion with the popular heaven, as the Lamb 
slain ; and therefore nothing is so much spoken 
about in the revelation of the real heaven as the 
Lamb slain. It makes him the chief object, and 
the charm of all heavenly things, because we 
are naturally inclined to make him the least or 
the last source of our expected happiness. 

Accordingly, when we first sit down to con- 
sider the heaven of the Bible, for the express 
purpose of making sure of it as our own eternal 
home,— we are struck with the fact, that all the 
visions of glory are full of Christ. We can- 
not help feeling that there must be more of 



THE NEW SONG. 17 

Christ in our religion, than there ever has been 
in it, if we would make sure of heaven. We see 
clearly, that a slight reference to him at the 
close of our prayers, or an occasional remem- 
brance of him at the sacrament, or a partial de- 
pendence on him at any time, will not do. In- 
deed, they will not bear looking at, whilst we 
look into the New Jerusalem. For, at which- 
ever of its "twelve gates of pearl," we place our- 
selves as spectators, the great sight is the aton- 
ing Lamb ; the great song is the atoning Lamb. 
If we recognise angels as students, they are all 
studying the sufferings of Christ ; if as worship- 
pers, they are all adoring him as the Lamb 
slain. If we realize to ourselves any spirit, in 
any class of the general assembly of the spirits 
of just men made perfect, its crown is at his feet, 
its harp ringing with his praise, its palm waving 
his honour, as the Lamb slain. In the presence 
of such facts, it is impossible to think that mere 
morality, however eminent, is religion ; or that 
repeating the creed is faith • or that compliment- 
ing the merits of Christ is love. Even a child, 
if shown all that is done and said in heaven, and 
then referred to his prayer, " Thy will be done 



18 DESIGN OF 

on earth as it is in heaven," would tell us at 
once, that " to be good is to love the Saviour 
for dying for us." 

Another design of the New Song is evident- 
ly to show us the perfect harmony there is be- 
tween the leading truths of the Bible, and the 
prevailing sentiments of heaven. The heaven 
of the Apocalypse is the Bible in action ; the 
Bible is heaven in principle. Any man who 
will read attentively all the " lively oracles" 
which precede the visions of Patmos, will find 
nothing when he comes to study the latter, but 
just what might be expected from the prominent 
place which the atoning Saviour holds in the 
former. And in like manner, were any man 
to read the Apocalyptic visions of heaven first, 
and then to go through the canon of Scripture 
backward, he would find nothing and no more 
about Christ in either Testament, than just what 
might be expected from the place which Christ 
holds in heaven. Both in heaven and the Bible, 
Christ crucified is all and all. All the prophets 
and apostles of revelation just say what all the 
armies of heaven sing. The harps of inspira- 
tion and the harps of glory are in perfect har- 



THE NEW SONG. 19 

mony. Gabriel might be an ascended prophet 
or apostle, and Isaiah and Paul descended 
seraphim or incarnate angels ; so much alike 
are they in " glorying only in the cross of 
Christ." 

Thus the heaven of the Bible sustains and ex- 
emplifies the great doctrines of the Bible. Both 
are equally full of one grand fact — that all sal- 
vation is only by the blood of the Lamb. All 
the lamps of revelation burn around the cross 
on earth, and all the glories of eternity blaze 
around the crucified Lamb in heaven. What a 
proof this is,— that the word of God is intended 
to guide us to the paradise of God ! How true 
it is— that the Holy Scriptures are " able to 
make us wise unto salvation !" For they teach 
chiefly what is now and will be for ever, the 
chief theme of heaven. They make that the 
foundation-stone of personal piety here, which 
is the top-stone of perfection there ;— love to 
Him who loved us and died for us. 

This is the great characteristic of the" Bible. O, 
there is not too much about Christ in it ! Were 
there less, we should have less reason to hope 
for eternal life. But there is much about Christ 



20 DESIGN OF 

in it, because there is much willingness in the 
heart of God to bestow the gift of eternal life. 
There is muck— because there is nothing on 
the part of God, in plan or purpose, in nature 
or government, to hinder us from laying hold on 
Christ for eternal life. God has placed him 
every where in our Bibles, to prove to us that 
he has " no pleasure in the death of sinners." 
Christ is the substance of the Bible, because 
love is the moral essence of God. 

How evident it is, even from these imperfect 
hints, that if we dislike to read, or hear, or think 
much about the Lamb slain, — we really dislike 
the heaven of the Bible ! Do you not see, that 
no man can love it without loving him ? It is 
not heaven itself that a man loves or desires, 
whilst he cares little or nothing about the Sa- 
viour : it is rest, ease, immortality, or happi- 
ness, according to his own taste, not accord- 
ing to the will of God. The man who cares 
little about Christ, would not care much if 
" the better world " he hopes for beyond the 
grave, were as far off from heaven as the 
present world is. Let it only be a place of 
what he deems happiness, and it may be 



THE NEW SONG. 21 

any where in the universe of infinity with- 
out offending him. He cannot indeed rid 
himself of the wish to be with kindred spirits 
through eternity ; but if he could calculate upon 
a sufficient number of them, he could easily 
dispense with the glory of the Lamb. It would 
be no great disappointment to him, if he never 
saw Christ. 

Would it be a heavy disappointment to us, 
never to see the Saviour ? Could we too make 
ourselves quite happy without his presence, in 
any world that was better than this world ? I 
know that there is no better world than this 
open to man when he dies. The heaven of 
heavens is the only place of happiness for hu- 
man spirits. It is not, however, useless to try 
and test ourselves with the question, Would we 
be well contented to be any where if not in hell, 
even if we should never see nor hear of the Sa- 
viour ? Would it be enough for us to be for 
ever in good company and free from all suffer- 
ing, although in a world where the glory of 
Christ was unseen or unknown? There is no 
such world in the universe ; but the supposition 
of it enables us to see at once the real state of 
c 



22 design or 

our hearts towards the Saviour. We are cer- 
tainly not in the way to heaven, if his favour 
and presence are the heavenly things we care 
least about. 

Do not evade this conviction because it 
flashes out upon you from an imaginary point. 
The conviction itself is no fancy. It is all sober 
and solemn fact, that if we feel little of no inte- 
rest in the grace and glory of the Saviour, we 
are yet in the way that leadeth down to hell. 
He is the only deliverer from the wrath to 
come ; but he will deliver none who neglect 
him. He is the only opener of heaven ; but 
he will open it to none who do not love and 
obey him. 

Now, even if we do feel some interest about 
the grace and glory of the Saviour, and can 
truly say that we are not entirely indifferent to 
his cross or his sceptre, we must confess that 
it is not enough, now that we see clearly what 
heaven is. He must have a higher place in 
our esteem ; a fuller place in our confidence ; 
a warmer place in our affections ; an abiding 
place in our hearts, if we would cherish the 
hope of eternal life. We ought not to be satis- 



THE NEW SONG. 23 

fied— we surely cannot satisfy ourselves after 
this insight into the precise frame of our spirit 
towards the Lamb slain — without looking often- 
er and closer to his cross than we have done. 
We have much encouragement, as well as 
much need, to do so. 

For another design of the New Song is, 
evidently to prove to us how well-pleasing to 
God and to all heaven, salvation by the blood 
of the Lamb is. Indeed there might be nothing 
else delightful in heaven ; all are so taken up 
about this "one thing needful." Salvation by 
the cross absorbs all the hearts and harps around 
the throne. And upon the throne, God and the 
Lamb seem to live and reign only for the pur- 
pose of beseeching us to be reconciled to them. 
And before the throne, the eternal Spirit shines 
in seven-fold glory, for the express purpose of 
helping our infirmities. The throne itself is not 
only a mercy-seat ; it is also the ark of a cove- 
nant of grace, more brightly encircled and en- 
shrined with the emerald rainbow of peace, than 
the ancient mercy-seat was with the shechinah 
of glory. Yea, the throne itself is the very 
fountain from which the water of life proceeds, 
c2 



24 DESIGN OF 

in a river equally pure, full, and free, to whom- 
soever will drink freely. Heaven is indeed a 
father's house ! Its " many mansions," many 
crowns, many glories all show, as they shine, 
that many sons will be brought to glory. And, 
however many its angels are, "they are all mi- 
nistering spirits to them that shall be the heirs 
of salvation." 

This universal confederation of all " the prin- 
cipalities and powers in heavenly places," under 
the eye and sanction of the God-head, for the 
one grand object of commending and endearing 
redemption, proves beyond all doubt, that the 
Father is more than willing to save ; the Son 
more than able to save ; the Spirit more than 
ready to help. They are solicitous, intent, 
united to do so. Every thing in heaven de- 
monstrates that the good-will of Deity to man 
is no narrow purpose, no doubtful plan, no 
grudging system, no equivocal promise of sa- 
ving. It so satisfies saints and angels, wide and 
warm as their sympathies for mankind are, that 
they not only cry with a loud voice, " Worthy 
the Lamb that was slain," but exclaim with 
equal loudness and love, " Who would not fear 



THE NEW SONG. 25 

and glorify thee ?" thus evincing that they 
neither see nor suspect any thing to hinder any 
one from doing so, to whom the gospel of the 
grace of God is sent by the providence of God. 
All their applause of God and the Lamb, and 
all their appeals to man are founded upon the 
sufficiency of the atonement for " all nations, 
kindreds, people, and tongues." Now be it 
remembered, they are nearer to the Lamb's 
book of life, and know more about the purposes 
of God, than the narrow minded theorists who 
presume to " limit the Holy One of Israel " to a 
fractional election. Nothing that all the armies 
of heaven say or sing indicates that they see or 
hear any thing in heaven to limit their appeals 
to us. Their loud "Who shall not fear and 
glorify thy name?" is an appeal to " all na- 
tions." 

This is indeed strong encouragement ; but 
it is not all that the New Song of heaven pre- 
sents to us. Our redemption by the blood of 
the Lamb must he glorifying, as well as gratify- 
ing to God. There is evidently no perfection 
of his character, and no principle of his govern- 
ment opposed to it. No other source of his 
c 3 



26 DESIGN OF 

glory, although all the sources of it are seen 
from the heaven of heavens, is so much studied 
or celebrated before the throne. Redemption, 
not nature ; redemption, not providence, is the 
grand theme ; and these only themes at all, just 
as they illustrate and forward that. Why is 
this ? Undoubtedly, evidently, because God 
feels more interest in, and derives more glory 
. from the salvation of man, than from the won- 
ders of the universe. 

O think of this fact ! He can not only be just 
in saving you by the cross, but also glorious in 
his own estimation, and in the opinion of all 
heaven. There is joy in heaven over the re- 
pentance of one sinner, more than over all the 
worlds that need no repentance. Why 1 Why 
do angels rejoice chiefly over the salvation of 
sinners ? Evidently, because that is God's chief 
joy, and his highest glory. Give him this plea- 
sure : for he has sworn by Himself that he has 
no pleasure in the death of a sinner. Give him 
this glory : for he prefers it to all the honour 
which the material universe can pay to his per- 
fections. 

Another design of the New Song is evident- 



THE NEW SONG. 27 

]y to show to us how perfectly the blood of the 
Lamb can pacify and purify the conscience of 
the guilty. The spirits of just men in heaven 
sing the New Song with as much composure as 
the angels that never sinned. Not that they 
have no consciousness of their past guilt and 
vileness : but that they have such a conscious- 
ness of their perfect restoration to the Divine fa- 
vour and image, as balances all their memory 
of the past, and fits them to enjoy without fear 
or shame, both the presence of unveiled Deity, 
and of innocent angels. Where they are — and 
what they are— unfits them to remember with 
pain, what they were. They do not forget what 
they were. They all say " our sins ," when 
they sing, " washed us by his own blood :" but 
their cheeks blush not, their lips falter not, their 
hands tremble not, as they bend over their gold- 
en harps out-singing angels in the chorus of the 
New Song. 

This is an interesting fact. We could not 
have understood it well without the visions of 
John. Words may explain it, now that the 
opening of heaven has exemplified it, by the 
posture and spirit of the Redeemed before the 



28 DESIGX OF 

throne ; but I doubt much whether any verbal 
statement of the fact could have conveyed the 
sweet and sublime idea, that we could ever so 
forget what we had been, as never to have an 
unholy nor painful recollection, and yet remem- 
ber it so as to remain for ever humble. 

It is no easy matter to conceive how God can 
so forget the past character of those whom he 
forgives, as to welcome them without a frown, 
and commune with them without coldness. This 
however God does. The pardoned soul finds 
him as much love, as he is light, when it enters 
his presence. Its first audience in heaven is 
fellowship with the Father and the Son ; and, 
after that interview, the soul is prepared to 
meet and mingle with any and all in heaven. 

I do not presume to explain this wonderful 
and delightful fact ; but I do rejoice in it with 
joy unspeakable and full of glory. I am glad 
that angels will know nothing of our past histo- 
ry, that could make them shy of our company, 
or us ashamed of ourselves in their company. 
Or if veiling all the past from them is not the 
security against this, I am glad that whatever 
they know, they will never choose to remem- 



THE NEW SONG. 29 

ber. This will be the case also between all 
the redeemed themselves. All. will forget as 
God forgets, and love each other as God loves 
them all. 

This delightful fact furnishes a glorious view 
of the sanctifying power of the blood of Christ, 
upon the conscience ! 



30 



No. II. 



APOCALYPSE OF THE NEW SONG. 

This " choral anthem of the skies" no more 
comes to us by accident, because the Bible is 
common, than it came to John in Patmos, by 
the design of the Roman Emperor who banish- 
ed him. Its transmission to us with the rest 
of the sacred canon ought to be as directly 
traced to the hand and heart of God, as its in- 
troduction to the Asiatic churches, or its revela- 
tion to John. The same Grace and Providence 
which sent the New Song to them, sent it to us. 
John was only the first that heard it, and they 
only the first that read it : and thus mere pri- 
ority of time or pomp of circumstances, is the 
only difference between us and them, so far as 
the Song itself is concerned. It has lost no- 



APOCALYPSE OF THE NEW SONG. 31 

thing of its truth, form, or spirit, during the 
lapse of intervening ages ; and as its design 
was gracious at first, it cannot be less so now, 
because both the priest and the sacrifice cele- 
brated in the New Song are unchangeably 
" the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 
This is a better warrant for taking down our 
harps from the willows to sing it, than if the re- 
verberation of its original music still lingered 
amongst the echoes of Patmos, or floated on the 
waves of the Egean. Indeed, its apocalypse to 
the world at large now is a surer welcome to 
us to make it our own " song in the house of 
our pilgrimage," than if we heard it in pro- 
phetic vision. And we only deceive ourselves 
if we imagine that we would make it our own 
on the authority of a personal vision, whilst we 
hesitate to adopt it on the authority of a public 
and final revelation ; for it comes before us ac- 
credited and enshrined with as many signal pro- 
vidences, as it was by splendid miracles when 
John first heard it. Nothing is lost but its ce- 
lestial accompaniments ; and their music and 
majesty passed away only as did the sound of 
the creative fiat, " Let there be light f 9 all the 



32 APOCALYPSE OF 

light called forth by that command remains for 
ever undiminished and undimmed ; and all the 
love that first breathed and burned in the New 
Song is everlasting love. Angels celebrated 
it even then, more for our sake than for John's 
sake. And now their hearts and harps are full 
of the theme, that they may cry down from their 
thrones to us, " Who would not fear and glorify 
thee, thou King of saints?" Thus they hymn 
for ever the worthiness of the Lamb slain, that 
we may count him worthy of all our accept- 
ance, confidence, and gratitude. 

In looking at this pleasing fact however, we 
must not forget the high honour conferred upon 
John as the first auditor of the New Song on 
earth. Even Paul's rapture in the third heavens 
was inferior to John's visions. Paul heard only 
"unspeakable words which it is not lawful to 
utter ;" but all things which John saw and heard, 
when heaven opened over Patmos, he was both 
allowed and commanded to " write in a book." 
This liberty to publish all the voices and 
visions of truth and grace must have been as 
gratifying to " the beloved disciple," as the 
abundance and brilliancy of the revelations 



THE NEW SONG. 33 

themselves ; for he could not but see in the 
visions of natural hope> as well as in those of 
prophecy, the eventual gathering of the peo- 
ple around the cross, to sing, " Worthy is 
the Lamb that was slain for us." How this 
must have gladdened the heart of him who 
" leaned on Jesus's bosom at supper !" Ac- 
cordingly, his generous joy burst out the very 
moment he began to write his visions : " Bless- 
ed is he that readeth, and they that hear the 
words of this prophecy." Rev. i. 3. This is 
so like John ! 

Never was any exile so cheered in his ba- 
nishment. Domitian sent John to work in the 
mines of the earth : but God called him to ex- 
plore the deeper and richer mines of futurity 
and heaven. He does not seem to have had 
any human society in Patmos ; but he was not 
alone ! That ocean-rock of the Cyclades, like 
Carmel in the days of old, was covered with 
horses and chariots of fire. Thus the imperial 
edict, though unintentionally, sent him " to an 
innumerable company of angels ; to the general 
assembly of the church in heaven ; and to 
Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant," to 

D 



34 APOCALYPSE OF 

hear and see how " the blood of sprinkling" was 
honoured at the eternal throne by God, and by all 
the godlike universe of being : for, " from the 
tops of the rocks" of Patmos, he beheld this 
beautiful vision of immortality, as well as the 
prophetic visions of futurity. Thus his lone 
island in the Egean Sea was to him " a gate 
of heaven," wider than Bethel to Jacob, or Ho- 
reb to the Elders of Israel, or Tabor to Peter, 
or the Sanhedrim to Stephen. Who would not 
submit to exile, even on a solitary island, for the 
sake of such revelations ? John could well afford 
to let all the curtain, thus drawn off from the 
invisible world, drop its folds upon the scenes 
and society of this world. 

He did not however know when he was 
sentenced and sent to Patmos, that all or any of 
this " strong consolation" awaited him there. 
He had to quit his home and pastorate, and to 
embark in the Roman galley for the mines, 
" not knowing what things should befall him." 
No pillar of cloud and fire, nor any " star 
in the east," led or lighted his new pilgrim- 
age. He no doubt calculated, as a sufferer for 
the sake of the gospel, that he should not be for- 



THE NEW SONG. 35 

gotten nor unpitied by God ; but he did not 
anticipate the "exceeding weight of glory," 
which his sufferings were to work out for him, 
even in this world. It was not therefore the 
immediate prospect of that glory which recon- 
ciled him to solitude and tribulation : he had to 
enter upon them in the strength of present grace, 
and in the hope of eternal glory ; and in. the 
first instance, to " endure as seeing Him who 
is invisible." Open vision was therefore the 
reward of meek submission and holy patience. 
This is the case still, when we have to be- 
come the prisoners of Providence, by personal 
or relative affliction. Exile from the sanctuary 
to the lone sick chamber is not preceded by 
foretastes or anticipations of " the peace that 
passeth all understanding," which is often found 
there, by meek sufferers. They have to lie 
down for some time, "under the mighty hand of 
God," before they feel " the everlasting arms 
underneath them ;" and to drink the bitter cup, 
before angels strengthen them. But they are 
both sustained and soothed eventually. When 
their furnace is at the crisis of its heat, they 
find that Jesus is either watching it as a refi- 
d 2 



36 APOCALYPSE OF 

ner, or walking in the midst of its flames as a 
deliverer. 

This experimental fact is of as much practi- 
cal value to us, as the doctrinal value of John's 
supernatural enjoyments. It does not prove 
nor illustrate so much of the Divine power and 
glory, as the Apocalypse did ; but it does prove, 
that the same eye which was upon John in Pat- 
mos, and the same hand which upheld him in 
solitude are upon every house of mourning and 
calamity, where the heart of the sufferer is 
right with God. Ask any conscientious Chris- 
tian, who has endured a great weight of affliction, 
whether he was left to bear it in bis own strength, 
or without any conscious sense of the Divine pre- 
sence? He will tell you without hesitation, that 
he never enjoyed the hope of salvation, or the 
light of the Divine favour, so much as then. 
His very look and tone will prove the truth of 
his words, when he assures you that he could 
not have believed it possible to render him so 
calm, resigned, and happy, as he felt when in 
deep and dark waters, where all human help 
was vain. Let us not therefore be too much 
afraid of deep and dark waters. They can 



THE NEW SONG. 37 

be divided, like Jordan and the Red Sea, or 
illuminated with glory, like the Egean around 
Patmos. 

And even if the lonely exile of affliction be 
not cheered by "strong consolation," it is not 
unprofitable nor without compensation. Vi- 
sions of glory and exhilarating manifestations 
of the Divine pre sence are not the only things 
which do us real good, or which authenticate 
the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. 
John saw, durin * his exile dark visions of time, 
as well as bright visions of eternity ; and the 
former were as useful for time, as the latter for 
eternity. The one prepared him for the vicis- 
situdes of this world, and the other for the fel- 
lowship of the next world. And we are no 
losers by affliction, if we learn nothing in the 
furnace but the extent of our dross. That open- 
ing of the heart which reveals to us "the 
plagues" of our heart in all their vileness and 
inveteracy, until we tremble at our own depra- 
vity, is as much wanted in order to endear the 
Saviour, and deepen our dependence on the 
Sanctifier, as any comfort we long for or set a 
high value upon. No opening of heaven to 
d 3 



38 APOCALYPSE OF 

faith or sight, could do us so much good, as this 
revelation of the heart, if we be yet but half- 
hearted in prayer or penitence. We have not 
therefore suffered for nothing, nor without help 
from the Holy Spirit, if we have been shocked 
at the discoveries which the furnace made of 
our dross and tin. This is indeed a sad sight — 
a painful lesson— but not less useful eventually, 
than " joy unspeakable and full of glory." 
John's first visions and lessons in Patmos so 
overwhelmed him, that he "fell as dead" at the 
feet of Christ. But as that shock of fear was 
not the forerunner of despair or ruin, so humi- 
liating and even horrifying discoveries of our 
own unworthiness, weakness, and vileness, are 
not tokens of wrath, nor proofs of utter unre- 
generacy. An unregenerated heart would not 
be pained nor ashamed by them. An unen- 
lightened mind could not discern their enormity. 
A conscience untouched by the blood of sprink- 
ling or by the grace of the Spirit could not 
tremble at the plagues of the heart. However 
therefore such penitents may doubt their own 
penitence, or hesitate to ascribe their shame and 
self-condemnation to the work of the Holy Spirit, 



THE NEW SONG. 39 

they are true penitents. They do not see this ; 
but God, " who seeth not as man seeth," looks 
with a father's pity on all who " tremble at his 
word." John, when he lay at the Saviour's feet 
as dead, was as much an object of Divine com- 
passion, as he was of Divine complacency when 
he vied with the hosts of heaven in singing the 
New Song. That shock of terror prepared 
him to join this shout of triumph. True ; he 
was " the beloved disciple" before his trials or 
raptures began : but he too in common with all 
the disciples had long been " slow of heart to 
believe" or understand the gospel, even whilst 
hearing it from the lips of the Saviour. And if 
Jesus allowed him to " lean on his bosom" then, 
it was not because John had then entered into 
the spirit of the gospel, or had approved all that 
he understood ; but because he was upon the 
whole neither a wayward nor an unwilling 
learner at the Master's feet. 

But it is only the truth and grace of the New 
Song itself that will ever charm us into the spirit 
or habit of making it our own song. It must 
draw our harps from the willows of Babylon, as 
well as become their " chief joy." And it has 



40 APOCALYPSE OF THE NEW SONG. 

power both to attract and tune them, until the 
melody of the heart is in full harmony with the 
melody of heaven. Be not therefore too hasty 
in concluding that you can never " sing the 
Lord's song in a foreign land." You already 
love to hear others sing it ; and, like the Jews 
in Babylon, you cannot " forget" it. You would 
rather that your right hand lost its cunning, and 
your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, 
than forget or despise the worthiness of the 
Lamb slain. Well, all its melody in any heart 
began in this heart-felt desire to sing the song 
of the Lamb. 



41 



No. III. 



BURDEN OF THE NEW SONG. 

"The Hallelujah chorus" of the New Song 
is the atonement of the Lamb of God for the re- 
demption of the soul. Hence, it is not the life, 
but the death of Christ— not his example, but 
his sacrifice— not his ministry, but his media- 
tion that forms the burden of this " song of 
songs." Not only do all around the eternal 
throne sing nothing of their own good works or 
great sufferings, whilst they were on earth : 
they celebrate none of the Saviour's good 
works or virtues ; but confine the song of salva- 
tion, exclusively and entirely, to " the blood of 
the Lamb." 

This fact demands and deserves your utmost 
attention. I do not of course mean to insinuate, 



42 BURDEN OF 

that either saints or angels in heaven over- 
look or forget the life of the Saviour. They 
cannot— they would not if they might— forget 
that perfect model of the beauty of holiness : 
and they know its merits too well, not to admire 
it as the express moral image of God. But 
still it is the Saviour's death, not his life ; his 
blood, not his obedience that kindles their ador- 
ing wonder, and calls forth their pealing hosan- 
nahs of gratitude. Now if there be any thing 
self- evident from revelation to reason, it is that 
whatever is done in heaven, under the eye and 
sanction of God, must be — " the will of God." 
And it is equally obvious that the grand inten- 
tion of religion is, that His will should " be done 
on earth, as it is in heaven." Now as all in 
heaven ascribe salvation wholly to the blood of 
the Lamb, it is self-evident that all on earth 
who refuse to do so are directly opposing the 
will of God, and thus demonstrably wrong aud 
rebellious. There is no evading this conclusion, 
whoever it may affect, or however it may clash 
with some popular theories of charity : for if 
they are right, who in heaven make the atone- 
ment " all and all " in salvation, they must be 



THE NEW SONG. 43 

wrong, who on earth make it little or nothing 
but a martyrdom for truth. 

What then if some of the contemners of the 
atonement be men of strong minds ? Angels 
" who excel in strength," admire and adore its 
mysteries ! What if they were all men of great 
learning who reckon the blood of the cross a 
mere seal to the testimony of Christ ? Arch- 
angels and all the elder spirits of eternity who 
know even as they are known, and see God 
and the Lamb face to face, celebrate it as the 
ransom of the soul and the propitiation for sin. 
What too if they are all virtuous men, who 
reduce the death of Christ to a splendid mar- 
tyrdom, in confirmation of the doctrine of im- 
mortality, by the resurrection ? All " the 
spirits of just men made perfect " in heaven 
refer all their salvation and perfection to the 
atonement. 

What then are human names, pretensions, or 
suffrages, on a point where all heaven testifies 
and adores ? Its thrones bow to the cross, its 
lamps burn around the cross, its laurels garland 
the cross, its harps celebrate and its incense en- 
shrines the cross. Thus every step and strain 



44 BURDEN OF 

of Unitarianism is against the creed and chorus 
of heaven. Indeed, that upstart and impudent 
system, to be consistent with itself, ought to 
avow that it must revolutionize all heaven, as 
well as the earth, before it can stop : for on its 
principles, heaven is farthest gone in idolatry* 
and superstition. There are some on earth who 
deny both the divinity and the atonement of the 
Saviour ; but there are none in heaven who de- 
ny or doubt either. It will therefore be quite 
time enough to weigh the claims of Unitarian- 
ism, when it has drawn one harp to itself from 
the innumerable company of angels ; or one 
crown of the general assembly from the feet of 
the Lamb. Until then, it may safely and with- 
out any breach of charity or candour be pro- 
nounced equally hollow and haughty ; unscrip* 
tural and unreasonable. 

Now you have no sympathy with Socinian 
views of the person or the work of Christ. 
You wonder, and could almost weep that any 
man could be so infatuated as to retain the Bi- 
ble, and yet reject the divinity and atonement 
of the Saviour. You are shocked equally by 
the sin and the absurdity of such conduct. You 



THE NEW SONG. 45 

ought not however to be at all less shocked at 
practical neglect of the Lamb slain, than at spe- 
culative trampling on his blood. The man who 
can bring himself to believe that no atonement 
was wanted or made for sin, acts consistently 
at least with his avowed opinion, when he 
brands the doctrine of the cross : but to hold 
the need of an atonement, and yet to hold back 
the heart from it ; to profess that it is the only 
refuge of the soul, and yet to refuse or postpone 
flight to it ;— this is more horrid in itself, and 
must be more hateful to God, than any specu- 
lative heresy whatever ; because this is wilful, 
if not wanton neglect of known truth and ac- 
knowledged duty. And yet alas this neglect 
of the great salvation is any thing but uncom- 
mon. Many who know much of its greatness 
and glory, as a system, yet live on heedless and 
heartless to all its charms and claims, as a re- 
fuge or remedy for their souls. 

This too shocks you perhaps ; and yet, though 
not thus indifferent, you may be as much afraid 
as some are unwilling to take refuge in the 
cross of Christ. I would not speak harshly, 
where you feel tenderly ; but I must say, that 

E 



46 BURDEN OF 

you r fears are unwarranted as the objections 
of infidels, the cavils of heretics, or the excuses 
of triflers. You indeed doubt and fear from 
very different motives, and in quite another spirit 
to them. You do not at all belong to their class. 
You would be glad to hope in Christ for your 
own salvation, if you could only feel warranted 
to do so. 

Now you never will feel warranted, whilst 
you seek for a warrant in your own feelings. 
It can only be found in the feelings of God and 
the Lamb ; and their feelings can only be known 
from their words. You must therefore " search 
the Scriptures," not your own heart, nor your 
conscience, nor your spirit, nor your character, 
if you would find a warrant for yourself to hope 
in the cross : for not any thing that any one 
feels is his warrant for hoping in Christ. You 
think of the thirsting of some for the water of 
life, and of the hungering of others for the bread 
of life ; and call that their title to appropriate 
the merits and promises of the Saviour to them- 
selves. It is however no such thing. Indeed, 
did you feel all that they do and all that you 
yourself wish, and were that feeling raised to all 



THE NEW SONG. 47 

the height of Pentecostal solicitude about salva- 
tion, you would have in that no more title to 
hope, than you have without it. 

Does this surprise you ? It ought not. I say 
it not to startle you, but just because it means 
no more than you do, when you say that your 
" faith should stand on the word of God, and not 
on the word of man ;" for our own feelings are 
no more the ground of hope, than the word of 
man is the ground of faith. In fact, feelings 
have nothing to do with the real and original 
grounds of hope and faith. 

But I will not put your mind on the stretch 
among the abstract logic of this question. It 
is a question of the heart, in order to the " me- 
lody of the heart, 5 ' with you, and as such there- 
fore I will treat it. Now you are quite right 
in supposing, that it would encourage you very 
much, if you could only feel all that hatred of 
sin, all that love to holiness, and all that delight 
in thinking about the Saviour, which you wish 
to experience. This would, this ought to en- 
courage you ; for there are specific promises 
addressed to all who thus " hunger and thirst 
after righteousness." Nor is this all; those 



48 BURDEN OF 

holy longings are parts and proofs of the work 
of the Holy Spirit on the heart. They are, 
however but parts of his work. The shame 
and sorrow you feel because you cannot feel as 
you wish towards the Saviour and holiness are 
quite as much the fruit of the Spirit, as joy or 
love is so. They are not such ripe fruit, but 
they are real fruit, and generally the " first 
fruits " of conversion. " The carnal mind is 
enmity against God ;" and therefore its natural 
carnality is somewhat subdued by grace, when- 
ever we begin to be ashamed of it, and pained 
on account of it. The things of the Spirit are 
" foolishness" to the natural mind ; it discerns 
no beauty in them, and derives no happiness 
from them, and attaches no value to them, as 
present blessings ; and, therefore, the mind has 
undergone some degree of spiritual change, 
when its views of spiritual things are serious, 
however sad they may be. In a word, when 
the great realities of salvation cease to be re- 
garded as foolish or uninteresting in our estima- 
tion, some of the wisdom which maketh " wise 
unto salvation" has come down from the Fa- 
ther of lights, and will be followed by more 
good and perfect gifts. 



THE NEW SONG. 49 

But now, whether you apply this to yourself 
or not, I again tell you that feelings, whether 
sad or joyful, are not the warrant of hope. That 
is all in the word of God ; because all the word 
of God testifies the worthiness of the Lamb of 
God : in his grace and glory therefore, you 
must look for both your warrant and welcome. 
No man ever found either any where else. 
Many may have begun to hope, and been able 
to hope for a time, by the help of some insula- 
ted promise, which seemed made for them, and 
applied to them, because it was so suitable to 
their case when they discovered it ; but all such 
promises however pleasing, and however ap- 
plied in this way, are like the star of Bethlehem, 
guides to the Saviour himself. To him at last, 
and to him alone, the soul must come for all its 
consolation. Promises are indeed great in 
themselves, and peculiarly " precious," when 
they are, or seem brought home to the heart 
by the Spirit : but those who find them so at 
first, find too, in course of time, what this mean- 
eth, "that all the promises are yea and amen 
in Christ Jesus ;" and thus learn, that he must 
be all and all as the ground of hope, because 
e 2 



50 BURDEN OF 

he is all and all as the ground of acceptance, 
Do look again at the New Song ! There is 
much in it that will be new to you, even if you 
have rather an intimate acquaintance with its 
great characteristics. It celebrates no divine 
promise, nor yet any divine operation, as the 
cause or source of redemption. It dwells on no- 
thing, touches on nothing, but the blood of the 
Lamb. And for an obvious reason ; all the 
promises of God are founded upon the atone- 
ment of Christ, and all the work and witness of 
the Spirit glorify Christ. Whilst therefore you 
do not see enough in the worthiness of the 
Lamb to prevail against all your unicorthiness, 
and are thus seeking for something else to 
qualify you for his grace, you are, however un- 
intentionally, trying to give a new turn to the 
New Song. 

I am not upbraiding nor reproving. This is 
only a mistake ; and the mistake only of a se- 
rious mind, which means well, even when it 
judges worst. Still it is a mistake you must 
correct ; for there is enough in the fulness of 
Christ to meet your case, and thus to warrant 
your hope, however you may feel at present. 



THE NEW SONG. 51 

It has been already said, that not in our own 
feelings, but only in the feelings of God and the 
Lamb, can a real warrant for hope be found. 
This assertion is not at all at variance with 
what has just been stated concerning the atone- 
ment. The blood of the Lamb embodies, ex- 
presses, exemplifies, and emblazons all the feel- 
ings of the Eternal Mind. The atonement shows 
in deed, what Revelation shows in word, " that 
God is love." And really, it should strike us 
very powerfully, that if we cannot venture to 
hope in this alone, nothing else is either so 
great or so good. 

We are indeed poor judges both of warrants 
and encouragements, when we want any thing 
beyond the "unspeakable gift of God," and "the 
unsearchable riches of Christ," to authorize our 
hope ; for what can compare with them ? No 
token of personal favour however merciful or 
miraculous. I know well what you are think- 
ing ; that you have no more doubt of all this 
than I have. What you doubt is, not whether 
there is enough in the blood of Christ to war- 
rant hope, nor whether all hope should centre 
there ; but whether one who feels as you do, 



52 BURDEN OF 

and is what you are, is warranted. You do 
not want something more than Christ to rely 
on, but something to encourage you to rely 
upon him. " The soul," you say, " must be 
both inclined and enabled to hope in Christ 
alone, before it can do so." You are right. 
Warranting a blind man to look, or a lame man 
to run, is nothing whilst their organs are inca- 
pable of the exercise. Even this however is 
only true, when human lips give the warrant. 
It is not true when God speaks. When He 
gives such a command, the power to obey ac- 
companies the effort to obey. He says, "Look," 
because he gives sight to the spiritually blind. 
He says, " Stretch forth thine hand," because 
he will communicate to its withered joints and 
sinews all requisite energy, wherever there is 
a willingness to attempt the required duty. In 
a word, " it is in trying, that strength comes " 
down from on high. Do you now ask, " Try- 
ing what ?" I answer at once, in trying to be- 
lieve the gospel. Now you have not been try- 
ing to believe it, if the exercise of your mind 
has turned chiefly upon such questions as your 
election, your adoption, or your conversion. 



THE NEW SONG. 53 

These things are not. the gospel. They are in 
it ; but they are not it. The gospel itself is 
the glad tidings of God's love, not to the church, 
but to the world ; not to the elect, but to sin- 
ners. Christ died for the " ungodly," as well 
as for the church. He is the propitiation for 
the sin of the whole world, as well as for their 
sins, whom you account the redeemed from 
amongst men. 

Now did you ever try the effect of believing 
the love of God to the world? of believing the 
ability of Christ to save you ? of believing what 
God has sworn, that he has no pleasure in the 
death of a sinner ? The Spirit may not have 
helped your infirmities at all, whilst you were 
trying to believe that you were an elected, or 
adopted, or a regenerated child of God : but 
the question is, would the Spirit have withheld 
his help, had you tried as much to believe that 
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin ? 
Remember that the Spirit's grand aim is to " glo- 
rify Christ," and not to give us such a good 
opinion of ourselves as should warrant us to 
hope in Christ. It is the things of Christ, which 
he shows to the soul, when he converts the soul. 



54 BURDEN OF THE NEW SONG. 

It is the book of revealed truth, and not the 
book of life that the Holy Spirit unfolds, when 
he opens the eyes of the understanding, and 
turns sinners from darkness to light. Think of 
this. The Spirit will not refuse to help you at 
the cross, whilst looking unto the Lamb slain ; 
however he may have stood afar off whilst you 
were looking at the probabilities of your being 
a chosen vessel of mercy. Searching your own 
heart and reins for marks of grace is not search- 
ing the Scriptures for a warrant to lay hold on 
Christ for eternal life. Try that, if you would 
have strength come down from on high ! 



55 



No. IT. 



MYSTERIES OF THE NEW SONG. 

Whatever mystery there may be in re- 
demption, it does not prevent nor disturb the 
music of the New Song. Neither harps nor 
hearts, lips nor lyres in heaven, are ever si- 
lenced or disconcerted by what is incomprehen- 
sible" in the atonement. Indeed there might be 
no mystery in the New Song, or mystery might 
be its chief charm, judging from the zeal and 
zest with which it is sung in heaven. There is 
however much mystery in it : and yet the blood 
of the Lamb, which is its chief mystery, is its 
chief melody. That is both the source and 
centre of all its notes. 

■ We ought however to be equally careful 
neither to ascribe more mystery to redemption 



56 MYSTEKIES OF 

by the blood of the Lamb, nor to recognise less 
in it, than the Scriptures attach to it ; for if it 
be all resolved into mystery, we cannot think ; 
and if its mysteriousness be overlooked, we 
cannot feel. Those who see no mystery in the 
atonement are blind to its glories too ; and 
those who see nothing but mystery in it cannot 
estimate its value. 

Did you ever fairly as well as solemnly, 
fully as well as devoutly, meet the mysterious 
question, — Why is redemption by the blood of 
the Lamb of God ? To nothing else is it as- 
cribed ; and, therefore, by nothing less could it 
have been procured ; for all that we know of 
God as wise or just, good or great, is a decisive 
proof, that he would have "spared his own Son," 
if he could have spared us in any other way. 

It is bad logic and worse divinity, to argue 
from either the wisdom or the power of God, 
that he could have saved sinners in ten thou- 
sand other ways. This seems a compliment to 
Omnipotence, but it is a heavy reflection upon 
Divine prudence. Would any father ransom 
the life of one of his children, by the death 
of another of his children, if he had any other 



THE NEW SONG. 57 

way of redeeming his prodigal ? If he did, 
we could not think highly or well of his pater- 
nal character. 

I both know and feel that this is delicate 
ground. He who steps upon it is almost sure 
to be met with the startling question, " What ! 
would you limit Omnipotence ?" In answer to this, 
I would simply ask,— Could Omnipotence go 
higher than Emmanuel, in selecting a Redeem- 
er for our world ? It could not go beyond Je- 
hovah's fellow. All its choice of a Mediator 
lay therefore between the Son and the Spirit ; 
and which ever of them had been chosen, no- 
thing greater or equal could have been found 
in the universe. All creatures and things are 
infinitely inferior to them, because they are one 
in essence and glory with the Father. The 
range of Omnipotence, in providing a Saviour, 
was therefore limited by the limitation of per- 
sons in the Godhead, if a Mediator was to be 
chosen from the Trinity. And, as the eternal 
Son was chosen, his rank is demonstration that 
no one inferior to him could have mediated be- 
tween God and man. Remember, it was as a 
Father that God selected and sent his Son to be 



58- 



MYSTERIES OF 



the propitiation for sin ; and therefore his pa- 
ternal character, and not his omnipotence, is the 
real test of the question, — 4 ' Could not God have 
saved by other means ?" Now do you not see 
at a glance, that as a Father he would have 
spared his Son, if he could have done so ? Jus- 
tice, as well as love, required that his beloved 
Son should not be the victim, if any other suffi- 
cient victim could be devised by Omniscience, 
or created by Omnipotence. Even as God, 
" it became him, for whom are all things, and 
by whom are all things, in bringing many sons 
to glory," to bring them at the least expense 
possible, or compatible with the honour of the 
Divine government : for too much is as incon- 
sistent with its real honour, as too little. Over- 
doing and underdoing are equally incompatible 
with all just ideas of Divine wisdom or power. 
The perfection of Omnipotence is that it " does 
all things well ;" which would not be true, if it 
could have done its greatest work " well," with- 
out the sacrifice of its richest jewel. 

They must therefore have very low views of 
both the paternal and the real character of 
God, or they have not studied either in this con- 



THE NEW SONG. 59 

nexion, who dream of other possible plans of 
redemption. I have never indeed heard any 
one suggest another plan, nor have I ever heard 
the remark from any one ill affected to the re- 
vealed plan ; for those who reject the atonement 
of Christ reject all atonement for sin ; and there- 
fore, as the theory of other plans is mentioned 
only by those who bow to God's actual plan, I 
am the more concerned to prove to them, that 
all other ways of redeeming the lost were as 
impossible, as it is impossible for God to be need- 
lessly severe or unnecessarily kind. And what 
else or what less is implied in the grateful ac- 
knowledgment of all Christians, that " when 
there was no eye to pity, and no arm to save," 
Emmanuel took up our cause ? No one means 
to reflect upon the angelic hierarchy, by this as- 
cription of glory and good- will to the Saviour. 
No one imagines, that angel or archangel, che- 
rub or seraph was mighty enough to save, if 
willing to be a Saviour. And if none of their 
hosts possessed the requisite ability to atone for 
sin, then it is literally true, that there was "no 
arm to save" in the universe, but a Divine arm. 
" That is," it may be said, " not if salvation 



60 MYSTERIES OF 

was to be by atonement ; but is it so certain that 
sin could not have been remitted but by the 
shedding of blood ? Might not law and justice 
have been satisfied for sin, and vindicated in 
saving, by some other means than penal suf- 
ferings ?" Now I am quite aware it is easy to 
say " No," in answer to this question. It is 
however quite as easy to prove, that nothing 
but the punisJunent of sin could pave the way 
for the pardon of sin. For to pardon sin apart 
from punishing it in some way, would be both to 
encourage and connive at sin. Who would or 
could think it an evil, if it passed with impunity, 
or were pardoned as a mere matter of course ? 
We see and feel that it is not much feared or 
hated, notwithstanding all the ways in which 
its evil has been proved by its punishment : and 
had it never been punished, it never would have 
been hated or feared at all, except so far as sin 
becomes " its own punishment " by its natural 
consequences ; and that is not so far as to pro- 
duce love to God or holiness. Thus no mortal 
nor immortal can conceive of any other mode 
of treating sin as a moral evil, but by condign 
punishment. We can easily conceive of various 



THE NEW SONG. 61 

kinds and degrees of punishment ; but utter 
impunity is inconceivable, because impossible 
under moral government. 

What however are we really thinking about, 
when we speak of sin— of pardon — of punish- 
ment ? If we think only of the evil of our own 
worst personal sins, it is very easy to speculate 
about other means of pardon. Every man 
could strike out some plan by which, as he 
thinks, God might safely pardon him. But, 
what we count our worst sins are not the chief 
causes of our need of pardon. It is our nature, 
more than our actions ; our hea?*ts, more than 
our life, that rendered an atonement necessary, 
m order to the pardon of sin : for sin, in our 
case, is not only all the evil we have done, but 
all the undone good which we ought to have 
done. Yea, it is far more than all that ; it is 
all that is wrong in us ; and that is just as much 
as we are unlike God in purity of heart and 
life ! We are sinners to all the extent in which 
we are less holy than the godlike angels of hea- 
ven. We only skim the surface therefore, 
when we think only of what evil we have done. 
The undone good is equally a part of our guilt. 
p2 



62 MYSTERIES OF 

And our want of the Divine image is the con- 
summation of both our sin and danger. 

The question is not therefore, were there not 
many ways in which God could have pardoned 
lies, lusts, and sins of that kind ? but was there 
any other way of pardoning the guilt of not 
being godlike in our whole character and con- 
duct; aggravated as that guilt is by our dis- 
like to be godlike ? Do not, I beseech you, 
evade this awful view of our case, by laying at 
Adam's door the guilt of our want of the Divine 
image. There lies at our own door the guilt of 
not caring for the loss of that image, and the 
guilt of not seeking its restoration, and the guilt 
of not loving the true holiness in which it con- 
sists. Besides, in whatever way we become un- 
holy or unlike God, we must be " holy as God is 
holy," before we can inherit the kingdom of 
heaven. Now the pardon which we need and 
which God gives, is in order to this perfect pu- 
rity ; and therefore, no man can prove that 
another mode of- pardoning could have secured 
perfect and eternal holiness, in creatures utterly 
destitute of and averse to the Divine image. To 
make them " partakers of a divine nature," or 



THE NEW SONG. 63 

" holy as God is holy," is an end so unspeaka- 
bly and inconeievably great, that no moral 
means appear at all adequate to it, but that in- 
carnation which united human nature to the Di- 
vine nature in the person of Christ, and thus 
added Divine merit to the atonement of Christ. 
For however easily natural Omnipotence can 
call into existence out of nothing, myriads of 
perfect beings in all the beauty of holiness, we 
know of no moral omnipotence that could re- 
store lost holiness to sinners, but through the 
medium of satisfaction. 

Reconsider this view of our case. It is to 
the whole depth of our fall, and to the whole 
height of our intended and eternal elevation, in 
the scale of being and bliss, that the atonement 
is adapted. Although therefore we cannot 
think too ill of our actual sins ; we think too 
well of our actual state as sinners, if we imagine 
that the atonement had nothing to do but to 
merit the pardon of actual sins. It had of 
course to do that ; but it had also to merit for 
us the same place in heaven, and the same 
place in the favour of God, and the same con- 
formity to the image of God, and an eternity of 



64 MYSTEKIES OF 

all this, which angels that never sinned and 
archangels that never fell enjoy. It was to bring 
many sinners, as " sons, to this glory," that 
Christ endured the cross. However therefore, 
any one who has not seen that glory may 
dream of other ways of securing it, all who are 
glorified and thus qualified to judge, sing the 
blood of the Lamb in a tone of triumph, which 
both indicates and evinces that they are quite 
sure, that nothing but His blood could have 
merited their eternal place in the Divine pre- 
sence, favour and image. 

May I not say now to you and myself, " Go 
and learn what that meaneth ; The Son of God 
came to save the lost ?" We are by nature 
and practice as far and as much lost, as we are 
unholier than the perfect spirits before the 
throne— -as far as the pure gold of human na- 
ture is changed and dimmed from its original 
purity and splendour — as far as our bodies are 
inferior to Christ's glorious body — as far as our 
spirits are unlike the Father of our spirits, in 
moral perfection. This— is to be lost ! This, 
besides all our actual sins and known depravity, 
is our condition as sinners. 



THE NEW SONG. 65 

Now it was to save sinners thus lost, that a 
Divine atonement was required and made ; and 
having been made and accepted, who shall dare 
to say or think, that " so great salvation" could 
have been effected by other means? Who 
that believes this to be God's only plan of sa- 
ving would avert a thought or a look from the 
Lamb of God, to waste them upon human theo- 
ries or conjectures about possible plans ? This 
is the 'positive plan : and, as nothing greater or 
better is possible, because there is no greater 
Being in the universe than the Saviour is essen- 
tially, it is weakness, not strength of intellect ; 
carnality, -not spirituality of mind, to speculate. 
Indeed, speculation would be impossible, if we 
duly realized the glories of the cross or our 
need of the atonement. ' .We are looking too 
slightly at both, when we have either time or 
taste for theorizing. Accordingly, whenever 
we are penitently and devotionally " looking 
unto Jesus," we see nothing and desire to see 
nothing, as the way to God and glory, but him- 
self. " None but Jesus," is our language, when- 
ever our deep conviction is, that 
" None but Jesus 
Can do wretched sinners «ood." 



66 MYSTERIES OF 

Having brought the subject to this point, it 
seems at first sight almost unnecessary, if not 
unbecoming, to meet or start the question,— 
How does the sacrifice of Christ amount to a 
proper atonement for sin ? For whilst the pre- 
ceding facts and principles are vividly before 
our minds, we feel quite prepared to ask with 
emphasis,— How could His sacrifice be any 
thing else or less than a glorious atonement? 
It could not fail to take away sin. It would 
never have been offered nor accepted, if it had 
not been amply and honourably sufficient to 
save unto the uttermost. 

This is a state of mind that ought not to be 
disturbed by any questions, which would star, 
tie its confidence, even for a single moment. 
There are however some questions about the 
way in which the blood of the Lamb becomes 
an atonement for sin, which, if wisely put and 
well answered, are much calculated to confirm 
this state of mind, by preventing or repelling 
those objections, which like fiery darts Satan and 
his agents are so ready to throw out. Even 
our own minds also, when not very spiritual, 
are prone to be speculative, and thus to admits 



THE NEW SONG. 67 

if not to invent queries about an atonement, 
which requires so much and such exclusive at- 
tention. For whenever we are paying too little 
attention to it, we are in danger of asking, —Is 
the doctrine so sure, as to deserve all the notice 
it seems to demand ? And whenever we are 
much absorbed with the glories of the cross, 
Satan swells the ordinary stream of temptation 
into "a flood," which assails the very founda- 
tion of Calvary. Those who know these facts 
from experience, will neither wish me to be more 
explicit, nor regret that I have been thus candid. 
No Christian wishes to remember, much less to 
tell, all the strange and startling suspicions 
which at times pass through his own mind on 
this subject. On the other hand however, he 
will not be sorry to learn, that he has " brethren 
and companions" in the "tribulation" of these 
unhallowed and unbelieving suspicions. This is 
my motive for referring to them at all ; for I 
deem it unwise, if not something worse, to ex- 
press them. Their prevention or cure, not 
their anatomy, is what is wanted by all who are 
tempted by them. 

Now it will tend mightily to prevent these 



68 MYSTERIES OF 

bursts of unbelief, to meet once for all the ques- 
tion,— How does the sacrifice of Christ amount 
to a satisfaction for sin ? In answer to this so- 
lemn inquiry, I observe, First, that the punish- 
ment of sin, however awful, is never vindictive 
on the part of God ; but simply and purely the 
manifestation of the Divine displeasure against 
it, as it is against the Divine will and glory, and 
thus against the good of the universe. I mean, 
it is not to gratify any vindictive or hasty pas- 
sion that God punishes sin; but just to show 
that sin is an evil, subversive of all real happi- 
ness, and incompatible with the enjoyment of 
his favour. It is not in order to be revenged, so 
far as his own feelings are concerned, that God 
taketh vengeance ; but in order to protect and 
uphold the authority of a holy government, 
which is to bless a holy universe throughout 
eternity, by keeping all unfallen and redeemed 
creatures in fellowship, conformity and favour 
with himself. He has no more personal plea- 
sure at punishing, than an affectionate and pru- 
dent parent. He does it only for the good of 
the whole family, even when he disinherits the 
impenitent. Now this holy displeasure against 



THE NEW SONG. 69 

sin, being thus free from all passion and malig- 
nity, could be as well, if not better manifested 
in the sufferings of his Son, than in the misery 
of his enemies. They could only be punished 
to the extent that their finite nature could bear 
at one time ; and therefore their punishment, 
even when fatal, is eternal in duration, because 
finite in degree and resented all throughout. 
But the incarnate Emmanuel could bear at once 
the infinite manifestation of the Divine hatred 
to sin. 

" The Divinity within, 
Supported him to bear." 

When therefore he quitted the eternal throne, 
in the presence of all the wondering universe, 
and stood forward on the footstool, as the volun- 
tary mark for all the arrows, vials and thun- 
ders of judgment,— these, as they burst on his 
holy soul, read a lesson on the evil of sin and the 
necessity of holiness, to all the witnessing uni- 
verse, which hell itself could not teach. Thus, 
in a short space of time, and in a noble spirit of 
obedience and submission, he sustained a load 
of judicial wrath which eternity could not have 
exhausted by degrees upon finite victims. 



70 MYSTERIES OF 

On the very same principle therefore as pre- 
sent and future punishment of the guilty shows 
God's abhorrence of sin, the sufferings of Christ 
show it ; and show it so much more, that they 
atone for sin, by the majesty, the solemnity and 
the force with which they attest its evil. For 
never forget when studying this subject, that 
it is to prove and prevent the evil of sin, that 
God punishes it. As therefore it is demonstra- 
ble, yea self-evident, that the death of Christ 
both proves the evil of sin and prevents sinning, 
far more than the fear of hell does, it is equally 
obvious that his death was meritorious, as well 
as satisfactory to law and justice ; because it pro- 
duces, wherever it is truly believed, more holi- 
ness than either law or justice, or both can ef- 
fect in man. The full stream of judgment in 
hell does not stop the blasphemy of hell, much 
less purify lost men or angels : but the precious 
blood of Christ both pacifies and purifies every 
conscience which honestly applies to it. It has 
so cleansed from sin, even in this world, as to 
maintain in all ages, a " peculiar people, zeal- 
ous of good works," and though imperfect, de- 
voted to the glory of God and the welfare of 



THE NEW £0NG. 71 

mankind. And in heaven ! " Who are those in 
white robes and without spot before the throne? 
Whence came" those innumerable spirits, the 
lowliest in their homage and the loftiest in their 
gratitude, of all that bend or sing there? They 
all washed their robes and made them white in 
the blood of the Lamb. His atonement did all 
this ! Law could not have done it. Education 
could not have done it. Moral suasion could 
not have done it. " But what the law could 
not do," Christ did, when God sent him into the 
world " for sin," and " condemned sin in his 
flesh." That condemnation of sin might well 
merit the pardon of sin, seeing it has led to all 
the holiness which has either blessed the earth 
or added to the perfect spirits in heaven. 

Throw yourself upon these facts, when you 
are aske.d or tempted to ask, how the death of 
Christ could be an atonement for sin ? For 
how could it be any thing else or less, seeing 
He who made it was God manifest in the flesh ; 
and since the moral effect of it is infinitely be- 
yond all that all other means of improvement 
ever did or can produce upon sinners ? 



72 



No. T. 



NEWNESS OF THE NEW SONG. 

So far as this celestial anthem is a tribute of 
homage or worship to the Son as the second per- 
son in the tri-unity of the Godhead, — it is not a 
New Song ; in that sense it is as old as the elder 
spirits of the angelic hierarchy, and merely the 
prolongation of the first hymn of praise which 
broke the silence of the universe and of the past 
eternity, when worshippers were created and 
worship began around the throne of Deity. As 
divine worship therefore, it derives all its new- 
ness from the new name and from the new na- 
ture, which the Son assumed, as " the Mediator 
of the New Covenant," when he consummated 
the new work of redemption. In all other re- 
spects, the Song is as old as the first born spirits 



NEWNESS OF THE NEW SONG. 73 

in heaven— as " the morning stars " of creation. 
It is only a part of that " glory " which the Son 
had with the Father, « before the foundation of 
the world." Indeed, if he had not had it before 
and by essential right as the Son of God, he 
could never have obtained Divine worship as the 
Lamb of God : for whatever were the merits of 
his sacrifice, they could not entitle him to Divine 
honour. Nothing but Divinity deserves that, 
nothing but Divinity could sustain that, even if 
God could admit any created being to share with 
him the homage of the universe. The incense 
of equal and universal adoration, as it breathes 
and burns from the golden censers of all worlds, 
would intoxicate any finite being however strong 
in intellect or pure in heart. The creature 
could not bear the weight of glory which belongs 
to the Creator, even if the Creator were so to 
" exalt himself above all praise," as to give his 
own " glory to another." The transfer would 
prove as fatal to the highest angel in heaven as 
it would to the weakest man on earth. Deity 
alone can sustain with safety or ease the eter- 
nal adoration of an intelligent universe. Any 
creature would be as much too weak to bear it, 

62 



74 NEWNESS OF 

as unworthy to receive it. The single fact 
therefore, that Jesus Christ remains " the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever," or unchanged 
in heart and character, whilst all worlds honour 
him as they honour the Father, is as much a 
proof of his equality with the Father as is the 
fact that he is thus honoured. Such honour 
would have changed him for the worse, if he 
had not had an unchangeable nature in common 
with the Father and the Spirit. 

It is then what is old in this song, that gives 
truth, emphasis and glory to all that is new in 
it : for all the value and validity of the blood ot 
the Lamb, as an atonement, springs from the 
Godhead of the Lamb as a person in the eter- 
nal Trinity. 

It was however " a new thing" in heaven, 
when John wrote, to worship the Son as the 
Lamb slain. That began only when he re- 
turned from treading the wine-press of the wrath 
of God, " clothed in a vesture dipped in blood." 
It is not indeed improbable, that even before 
his incarnation, he was occasionally worshipped 
as the Lamb appointed and pledged to be slain ; 
for as there is every reason to believe that his 



THE NEW SONG. 75 

mediatorial undertaking for man and its atoning 
character were known in heaven long before he 
left heaven, angels and the church of the first- 
born there could hardly be altogether silent on 
that subject, nor able to keep out all the notes 
of the New Song from the original and ordinary- 
strain of their worship ; because the Son was 
virtually " the Lamb slain before the founda- 
tion of the world." But still, until he was ac- 
tually slain, the burden of their song must have 
been his glory as God. Accordingly, when 
the seraphim adored him in the temple, their 
song ran thus, " Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah ! 
God of Hosts ! the whole earth is full of thy 
glory !" This seems to have been the original 
and usual form of their adoring homage. It 
was therefore emphatically a New Song, when 
all the armies of heaven said with a loud voice, 
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive 
glory and honour." Accordingly, with this 
triumphant acclamation they welcomed him, 
when he stepped from the chariot of the ascen- 
sion, and took his place "in the midst" of the 
eternal throne as a Lamb that had been slain. 
What a scene that must have been ! Well 



76 NEWNESS OF 

might the Song be new, when all the scene was 
so new. I have often thought, whilst afraid to 
make it the melody of my own heart, that I 
durst not have ventured, had I been a witness 
then, to interrupt any saint or angel by even 
whispering the question, May I join the song ? 
Such a question, I have felt, would have brought 
down upon me looks of astonishment or reproof, 
which must have overwhelmed me, as much as 
if language had said, " What ! hesitate to join 
the New Song ? You can only increase and 
aggravate all your un worthiness by holding 
back from celebrating the worthiness of the 
Lamb slain. Besides, God would not have 
shown you these things, had he been willing 
that you should perish or unwilling to save 
you." 

Would then this argument have been valid, 
had I been a spectator of the scene when the 
Song was first sung in heaven ? If so, it is 
valid still ; for the Song is still new there.— 
The Lamb is the same now in grace and 
glory, as when the all-sufficiency of his sacri- 
fice first filled all heaven with rapturous gra- 
titude. And as revelation has now well nigh 



THE NEW SONG. 77 

filled the earth with the knowledge of his sa- 
crifice, our possession of the gospel is a better 
warrant to hope and sing too, than one of the 
golden harps of heaven would be. I certainly 
would not exchange my Bible for any harp 
around the throne. Even Gabriel's would not 
be such a token of God's "good will," as the 
" glorious gospel of the blessed God" is. 

This Song was new, inasmuch as it differed 
from all the other songs which had ever been 
sung in heaven. The grandeur of creation had 
called forth anthems to the eternal power and 
Godhead of the Son ; the overthrow of rebel 
angels, to his justice; the wonders of Provi- 
dence, to his wisdom ; the glory of the heaven 
of heavens, to his benevolence; but Calvary— 
Redemption !— awoke an anthem different 
from all these. The New Song is one of deep- 
er mystery and of higher majesty; of equal 
sublimity and of superior sweetness ; of wider 
compass and warmer flow ; because redeeming 
love, while it displays all the mingled excellen- 
cies of the Saviour's other works, eclipses them 
all, by the grace of its design and by the glory 
of its effects. Well might it be hymned and 



78 NEWNESS OF 

hosannaed by a New Song ; for it was a " new 
thing" in the universe, never to be repeated, but 
for ever to stand unparalleled and alone, tower- 
ing above all things, and attracting to itself the 
wonders of all worlds. And can I, do I join 
the armies of heaven in their other songs, read- 
ily ascribing glory to God and the Lamb, for 
the beauties of creation and for the bounties of 
Providence ; and shall I not join in the celebra- 
tion of redemption ? True, I am, as it were, 
born heir to natural and providential blessings; 
but salvation is no part of my birthright. It is 
however as openly before me, as the scenery 
of creation to be contemplated ; and as much 
within my reach by prayer, as the blessings of 
Providence. Say not then in thine heart, O 
my soul, who shall ascend up into heaven and 
bring down the Lamb's book of life? nor, who 
shall descend into the depths of the Divine pur- 
poses and bring up the secret things of sove- 
reignty? but say to thyself, What doth God and 
the Lamb say to all who wish to make the New 
Song the melody of the heart? — "The word 
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy 
heart ; that if thou confess with thy mouth the 



THE NEW SONG. 79 

Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, 
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 
shalt be saved." That saying is enough to 
make the tongue of the dumb sing ! And were 
it heard with as much simplicity of heart as it 
is uttered, there would be as few human harps 
hanging on the willows of Babylon, as there are 
angelic harps on the trees of paradise. God — 
God, who cannot lie, has said, " Believe and 
sing:"— what more would we have? Nothing 
more or better than his word warrant could we 
get ; for that is his Spirit warrant too. 

Again : this was a New Song, because the 
amazing event which it celebrated must at one 
time have been unexpected, if not unlikely. 
Neither angels nor archangels could have ex- 
pected their Creator and Lord to become the 
Redeemer of guilty man. The Creator and 
Governor of all worlds, becoming the atoning 
Shepherd of this world, is a transition so im- 
mense, a transaction so amazing, that, until told 
of it, it could not have entered into angelic 
minds to conceive of it. When the vast and va- 
ried universe was created by the Son of God, 
they may have been dazzled by worlds without 



80 NEWNESS OF 

number, and systems without confusion, career- 
ing and irradiating the spaces of immensity: 
but they could not wonder. They must have 
anticipated and understood, that the vastness of 
creation would correspond to his infinity ; its 
harmony to his wisdom ; its beauty to his glory. 
There was in all this nothing unlikely. It was 
only what might be naturally looked for, when 
he arose to lay the foundations of the earth, 
and to make the heavens the work of his hands. 
But it must have been infinitely improbable to 
all finite minds, until fully revealed to them all, 
that Jehovah's Fellow would ever assume our 
nature, and be crucified in our room. No se- 
raph who saw him on the eternal throne, or in 
the bosom of the Father, in all the fulness of 
the Godhead, could have imagined it even pos- 
sible, that ever he would weep in the manger, 
or groan in the garden, or hang on the cross. 
Even now that he has done so, and after so 
long a time since it was all over, all heaven is 
yet wrapt in holy and adoring amazement. 
They have never recovered from the sacred 
consternation, produced by the solemn scenes 
of Gethsemane and Calvary. Still they desire 



THE NEW SONG. 81 

to "look into the sufferings of Christ;" and 
every look is, to saints and angels, what eve- 
ry New Year's Day is to us, an occasion of 
new gratitude from an old cause. Both we 
and the world are older, when a new year 
begins; but its first day is always felt to be, 
emphatically new, however old we may be. 
So with them ; the wonders of redeeming love 
remain wonderful, in the face of age and ex- 
perience ; and thus keep the New Song for 
ever new. 

It was new also, because it united such a 
vast variety of beings and characters in sing- 
ing it. Angelic beings, confirmed in their alle- 
giance and felicity by the atonement, and in- 
troduced by it into newer and nobler discove- 
ries of the Divine glory, than their natural 
intuition or opportunities could have made, 
give all their hearts and harps to sing, " Wor- 
thy is the Lamb that was slain;" and as this 
song rolls down from their lofty thrones of light, 
it is met by the louder, wider, warmer chorus 
which ascends from all the mansions of redeem- 
ed spirits in glory, "Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain for us ;" and these acclamations, like 

H 



82 NEWNESS OF 

meeting waters in the ocean, mingle in one 
stream of eternal praise, which flows for ever 
around the throne, as the sea around the earth, 
undiminished in its volume, and undecaying in 
its interest. 

Nor is this its only newness, in the sense of 
variety. Think, how varied in years, in cha- 
racter, in talents, in office, in usefulness, in 
condition, " the redeemed from amongst men" 
were, before they were united and identified in 
singing this song. Infancy and old age, rich 
and poor, high and low, learned and illiterate, 
Jew and Gentile, savage and civilized, all join 
it alike and at once. Patriarchs sing as little 
of their long pilgrimages, as inrants of their 
short life ; prophets as little of their official 
rank, as peasants of their obscure lot ; apos- 
tles as little of their labours or triumphs, as 
Lazarus of his poverty; martyrs as little of 
their heroism and sacrifices, as invalids of their 
patience, or philanthropists of their benevo- 
lence. All unite in the New Song, as if they 
had all done as little for God as the dying thief 
on the cross. Yes; this one song, "Worthy 
is the Lamb," breathes on every lip, burns in 



1?HE NEW SONG. 88 

every heart, bursts alike from every lyre ; and 

as loudly and humbly from PauVs, as it could 

from yours or mine. 

"Ten thousand thousand are their tongues, 
But all their songs are one." 

When I consider that newness which arises 
from this variety of original character and 
condition amongst the redeemed, I am almost 
tempted to say to those who imagine that there 
is a peculiarity about their own case, which ex- 
cludes them from the hope of salvation, " You 
are just the persons who should take the lead 
on earth in singing the New Song : for if yours 
be a new case, your relief would increase the 
newness of the redemption anthem." It is 
however better to say and remember, that after 
all the variety of robes which have been 
washed and made white in the blood of the 
Lamb, there can come none to that cleansing 
fountain fouler than those of millions and my- 
riads, who are now " without spot " before the 
throne. 

" The dying thief rejoiced to see 
That fountain in his day; 
And there may I, though vile as he, 
Wash all my stains away." 



84 NEWNESS OF 

Again ; this is a New Song, inasmuch as it 
is continually increasing in interest and extent. 
It surpassed every other song, when only " the 
first fruits" of the Saviour's death had arrived 
in heaven. Even then, all heaven was vocal 
with its reverberations. From the very mo- 
ment of the ascension, the angelic hierarchy 
seemed to have merged all their ancient songs 
in the one New Song. What then must have 
been its interest and emphasis, when it began 
to spread on earth, and when redeemed spirits 
from all nations began to pour into heaven ! 
In the time of John, every day was raising it 
higher and higher, by an influx of confessors 
and martyrs, who, having sung it in prisons 
and flames, at stakes and on racks, were as- 
cending to renew it before the throne of God 
and the Lamb. How often then did the shout, 
" slain for us," swell the chorus around the 
throne, as it rung in at the gates of the New 
Jerusalem, on the arrival of every new addition 
to the noble army of martyrs ! And during 
the ten persecutions in the primitive ages, how 
often must the church in heaven have kindled 
with new rapture, as detachments from all the 



THE NEW SONG. 85 

churches on earth pressed into the ranks of the 
general assembly, and vied with its first-born 
members in 

" Wonder, love, and praise." 

That gave newness to the New Song. So 
did the martyrdoms of the Reformation, when 
its victims rose to be votaries, in common with 
the noble army of their primitive brethren and 
sisters. And although last, not least in that 
martyred brotherhood, the Fathers of Non- 
conformity in England and the Covenanters of 
Scotland were no small accession to the num- 
bers or the joys of the general assembly, when 
they ascended " more than conquerors by the 
blood of the Lamb," to forget all their injuries, 
in singing, " Worthy is the Lamb that was 
slain for us." 

And besides all these extraordinary acces- 
sions, there has been all along a constant suc- 
cession of new harps to join the New Song, 
Perhaps at no period in the history of the 
church, did even one day pass without bearing 
upon its wings some spirits from earth to 
heaven, to 

" Swell the chorus, and prolong the strain." 

h2 



86 NEWNESS OF 

And how they are multiplying now that 
the gospel is spreading its triumphs ! How 
many from your own circle — from your own 
family — can you realize amongst those who 
stand on the sea of glass before the throne, 
" having harps," and singing the song of the 
Lamb ! Whether it be parent or partner, 
child or friend, that your fond hope now re- 
alizes in that choir, they added to the new- 
ness of the song : and absorbed as they are 
with its joys, and new as all heaven is to them, 
they have not forgotten you. Fondly do they 
hope that you will join them, to aid their 
" mighty joys." 

Thus the anthem of redemption was em- 
phatically a New Song in heaven. Need I 
then say that it must have awakened a new 
shriek in hell? It could not do otherwise. What- 
ever creates joy in heaven must create misery 
in hell. I mean the misery of remorse or 
envy. And as the completion of redemption, 
and the return of the Redeemer to his original 
glory created the highest joy that ever filled 
heaven, those events must have created the 
deepest woe that ever convulsed hell. Satan 



THE NEW SONG. 87 

and his angels, however hopeless before the 
ascension of Christ, must have felt their de- 
spair to be aggravated ten thousand fold, when 
they saw him take his seat upon the eternal 
throne, and fill all the orbits from which they 
had fallen, with human stars which should never 
fall nor fade. And the souls of the lost, what 
must they have felt when they found that the 
Saviour had done nothing for them ! O the 
new shriek beneath, must have been as " loud" 
as the New Song above ! 

This contrast I am aware is painful. The 
transition of thought is so extreme and abrupt, 
that it is almost revolting. The contrast is 
however true; and therefore silence would 
be dangerous. Indeed the more we dislike 
the contrast, the more need there is to look at 
it. Keeping it out of sight, or merely glancing 
at it for a moment now and then is not the way 
to endear redemption to our hearts. That 
sensibility which shrinks from weighing " the 
wrath to come" is not good sense, nor common 
sense. It may be very amiable, but it is aw- 
fully unwise. 

Let me not however be mistaken on this 



88 NEWNESS OF 

point. I do not mean that it is either necessary 
or wise, to dwell much upon the horrors of the 
wrath to come. God did not " uncover de- 
struction and the pit," to rivet our gaze upon 
the flames or the smoke of their torments ; but 
to arrest our attention, and arouse our fears 
sufficiently to our danger. That danger is 
real— great— personal. No man who doubts 
this can prize redemption. It is deliverance 
from the wrath to come ; and, therefore, to 
forget or overlook that wrath is to weaken 
our concern for our souls and their salvation : 
indeed, to weaken all good principles. Humi- 
lity is not meek, nor love warm, nor gratitude 
adoring, nor patience cheerful in any believer, 
however obedient he may be, who ceases to 
regard himself as " a brand plucked from the 
burning." That he is— if there be in him any 
good thing towards God or the Lamb ; and 
that he must remember all through life, if he 
would grow in grace or enjoy the hope of 
glory. They only enjoy that good hope 
through grace, who allow and set themselves 
to keep in sight the hell they deserve and 
dread. 



THE NEW SONG. 89 

We mistake exceedingly, if we imagine that 
such a habit of remembering the wrath to 
come would unfit us for realizing the glory 
to come. Heaven is best seen and most loved, 
when looked at from the brink of hell ; because 
there, it is all contrast : whereas only part of 
it is in absolute contrast to the scenes and so- 
ciety on earth. There is something here, that 
ties or reconciles us to life, and thus weakens 
the desire for immortality : but every thing in 
and about hell is so revolting to the mind, that 
the " affections" spring up at once to the 
" things which are above, where Christ the 
forerunner hath entered." Besides, we must 
take a strong hold of his cross, when we see 
nothing else between us and hell. Then, the 
hand of faith takes a death-grasp of that tree of 
life ! We must believe " with the heart" then, 
if we believe at all. 

These facts explain much of what surprises 
us, in the freedom and fulness with which the 
first Christians sung the New Song. They 
went all its length and breadth and height, at 
once. Its highest notes were their first notes : 
for they seem to have joined the church in 



90 NEWNESS OF 

heaven in singing, " slain for us," as readily 
and fully as that church goes beyond the an- 
gelic form of the anthem. And yet, they had no 
warrant to do so which we have not. It was 
not from any peculiar or personal knowledge 
of the extent of the redeeming purposes of God, 
that they ventured to include themselves amongst 
" the redeemed of the Lord." They were as 
ignorant of the contents of the book of life as 
we are ; and did not possess the whole canon of 
the book of revelation as we do : but as the 
Author of both books had sent " the word of 
salvation" to them, by his Providence, they 
thankfully and meekly took for granted that he 
meant it for them, in his grace also. On this 
warrant they acted, and they were not treated 
as presumers : on this welcome they began to 
sing the New Song, and they were not deceived 
nor disappointed. 

It will materially help us to do the same, if 
we now trace the newness and progress of the 
New Song amongst the first churches, and 
throughout the world. John heard it sung on 
earth as well as in heaven. Yea, he fore- 
heard it prophetically, as the universal song of 



THE NEW SONG. 91 

this world. Hence he says, " Every crea- 
ture that is on the earth, and such as are on the 
sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying 
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be 
unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto 
the Lamb, for ever and ever." 

Thus the worthiness of the Lamb will not 
continue to be known only by a few, nor to be 
acknowledged by still fewer, as it now is. 
The New Song will not continue to be, like the 
song of the nightingale, confined to peculiar 
districts of the earth or sung only in solitary 
shades ; but like the music of the spheres, and 
like its own melody in heaven, it will become 
universal and uniform, and the whole habitable 
globe vibrate as the heart of one man, " Worthy 
is the Lamb which was slain for us :" for the 
kingdom of our God and of his Christ will come, 
until their " will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven." There are many parts yet where 
it has not reached ; but it will come to them. 
It is already on its way to them, and can no 
more be prevented or turned out of its di- 
rect course, than the light of the last created 
and remotest stars of the universe can fail, 



92 NEWNESS OF 

however far off yet, to reach the earth event- 
ually. 

This grand era the apostle foresaw and 
foreheard in prophetic vision : and connecting 
its consummation with its commencement, he 
speaks as if the prospect had been realized 
when he wrote ; because there was the same 
certainty that the song would become univer- 
sal, as there was that it had begun. It began 
by the will and power of God ; and these are 
pledged to spread and perpetuate it on earth, 
as well as in heaven. Indeed, even whilst 
John wrote, it was actually sung in the seven 
churches of Asia, sounding in all the procon- 
sular prisons of the Roman empire, pealing 
amidst the flames of martyrdom, and ringing 
in the "dens and caves" of the three continents. 
And every where it was a New Song! for 
nothing like it was ever heard in those places, 
until the gospel reached them. 

This is the point to which I now invite your 
attention : and should I succeed in showing 
clearly by whom the New Song was first 
taken up, and with what spirit it was first sung, 
I shall have furnished you with reasons and 



THE NEW SONG. 93 

encouragements to join in it, which, if they do 
not determine you, will at least help you, and 
certainly leave you " without excuse." 

Now it was emphatically new in Asia, for, 
until the time of John, " Diana of the Ephe- 
sians" was worshipped throughout all Asia, 
from the moment that country became tributary 
to Rome; and prior to that conquest, even 
from Nimrod to Nebuchadnezzar, the heavenly 
bodies had been the chief objects of Asiatic 
idolatry. All the popular sacred songs cele- 
brated them. A few captive Jews had indeed 
been asked there, " to sing one of the songs of 
Zion ;" but it was asked for in scorn, and 
would have been heard with derision. No 
holy song gained ground in the Asian cities, 
until the apostles of the Lamb introduced the 
New Song. That however soon collected 
such large churches in the seven principal 
cities, that the harps of Diana were publicly 
broken upon her altars, and her shrines thrown 
to the moles and the bats. 

It was new in all the proconsular cities and 
military stations of the Eastern empire. In 
Corinth, Antioch, and Cyprus, the song of the 
i 



94 NEWNESS OF 

drunkard and the dance of licentiousness went 
on by moonlight and sunlight, in the myrtle 
shades, and on the vine-clad hills, without 
shame or secrecy. Venus and Bacchus rung 
on -every lyre, and the lusts of the flesh were 
the Muses of poetry. But even there, " the 
disciples were first called Christians," and the 
song of Moses and the Lamb soon banished or 
silenced the odes of Anacreon, and the Bac- 
chanalian orgies of Cybele. Yes ; even those 
who had joined in them joined it. And over 
them Paul rejoiced, or rather the God of Paul, 
saying, " Such were some of you, but ye are 
washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified. " 
Now had we seen this transition from idolatry 
and licentious indulgence to the cross and ho- 
liness, what should we have thought of it? We 
could not certainly have doubted whether the 
blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. We 
could not have imagined that it was necessary 
to be good before applying to Christ. And, 
how could we, in the face of their welcome 
and success, have suspected for a moment that 
we ourselves were not equally welcome? I 
know well, that personal character however 



THE NEW SONG. 95 

moral or amiable is neither claim nor clue to 
a welcome at the cross ; but I know also, that 
if the depth of vileness be no hinderance to a 
welcome, a fair character cannot be a hinder- 
ance, except indeed its fairness is made a legal 
tender, as a price for mercy, or relied on as a 
ground of hope. Then, it will prove a greater 
barrier than even a bad character, because 
pride is quite as offensive to God as profligacy, 
it being as much an outrage against grace, as 
the latter is against law: and when it bears 
the form and breathes the spirit of self-right- 
eousness, it is an outrage against both. It is 
not thus however that we employ or view what- 
ever may be fair in our general character, when 
we hesitate to hope for salvation, or shrink 
from appropriating the New Song. It is a 
sense of utter unworthiness that deters and in- 
timidates us. We ought therefore to look often 
and closely to the unworthiness of the first 
monuments of redeeming grace ; not of course 
for the purpose of making out a better claim in 
our own case ; but in order to see that our case 
cannot be desperate, since theirs found mercy. 
Now it was to teach and encourage us to argue 



96 NEWNESS OF 

in this way, that God called so many of the 
worst at the beginning of the gospel. His ex- 
press design in welcoming the abandoned Ephe- 
sians was, that " in the ages to come he might 
show," by his kindness to them, " the exceed- 
ing riches of his grace." This was equally 
his design in all the conversions during that 
age. They are 'pattern pictures hung up in the 
temple of the cross, to encourage all who should 
ever try to believe unto salvation. And as they 
have encouraged millions and myriads who 
looked at them until their "faces were light- 
ened," and their hearts cheered, it is our duty 
to turn aside and see this great sight, as it opens 
in the progress of the New Song. 

Now it was emphatically new in Athens. 
There, thirty thousand false gods divided 
among themselves the hearts and harps of 
Greece. Both the genius and the learning of 
the nation were tributary to idolatry. All 
songs, from Hesiod's and Homer's downwards, 
were sacred to deified men, or to imaginary 
gods worse than men. So little was known of 
the true God, even when Athens was acknowl- 
edged to be the luminous eye of the world, that 



THE NEW SONG. 97 

Plato himself makes this confession in his 
Timseus,— -"It is difficult to find out the Creator 
of the universe ; and when you have found him, 
impossible to communicate this knowledge to 
the multitude." This was both the popular and 
the philosophic opinion, beneath all the olives of 
Minerva, whether they waved over the porch 
or the academy, Hymettus or Mars' Hill. But 
when the New Song began to be sung by 
"Dyonisius the Areopagite, and a woman named 
Damaris, and others with them," it was not 
long until converted philosophers told Athens 
and the world too, " Every Christian handy- 
craftsman has found God, and shown him to 
thee, and can teach thee all in fact which thou 
needest to know of God, although Plato says 
it is difficult to find him out, and impossible to 
communicate this knowledge to the multitude." 
Thus in Greece where the lusts of the mind 
were as predominant as the lusts of the flesh, 
and where the slaves of both treated the cross 
as "foolishness" the preaching of the cross 
eventually put down "the wisdom of the world," 
and the New Song silenced the whole orchestra 
of heathenism. 

i2 



y« NEWNESS OF 

I exhibit this " pattern" of Athenian conver- 
sions, to encourage those who like the Atheni- 
ans have gone too far in the indulgence of 
speculative and unhallowed curiosity. The 
consciousness of this " lust of the mind" hangs 
heavy upon the spirits of some. They have 
rushed into ground " where angels fear to 
tread," and taken such liberties of thought and 
speech with Divine things, that they can hardly 
see how their blasphemies can be pardoned, or 
how their wayward spirit could be kept in holy 
subjection to the truth as it is in Jesus. All 
this can however be done ; for it was done in 
the case of Athenians, who "spent their time in 
nothing else, but either to tell or to hear of 
some new thing." Both the old and the new 
things of their wild and wanton speculations 
passed away, when they began to study the 
New Song ; and were kept away by keeping it 
their daily song " in the house of their pilgrim- 
age." I take a deep and absorbing interest in 
this fact ; having myself in early life " meddled" * 
too much " with all knowledge," by rash and 
reckless speculation. That induced an indura- 
tion of conscience and a hardness of heart, which 



THE NEW SONG. k)\) 

often appeared to me to be both more unpardon- 
able and unconquerable than any vicious state 
of mind. I have at times even envied those 
who had nothing worse upon their consciences 
than the stains and stings of immorality. I 
was long haunted by the horrid suspicion, that 
my speculative disposition would inevitably re- 
turn upon me, even if its past sins were pardon- 
ed. For years, I could not see the possibility 
of my being a " sober-minded" Christian. 
Through mercy however, " what I feared" has 
not " fallen upon me" hitherto. I have never 
felt inclined to speculate, since I set myself to 
make the New Song the melody of my heart 
unto the Lord. 

But look now at Rome. There, the anthem 
of redemption was emphatically a new song, 
especially in " Cesar's household." In that 
imperial palace, nothing better than the licen- 
tious songs of Ovid and Horace, or the idola- 
trous praises of Jupiter and Mars had ever 
been sung, until " they of Caesar's household" 
sent their salutations to the church at Philippi. 
Until then, the seven hills of Rome rung with 
the worship of idols. The stream of their 



100 NEWNESS OF 

praise ran from temple to temple throughout 
the capitol, perpetual as the Tiber. All errors 
were full-orbed, and all vices overgrown in the 
eternal city. Seneca was there, with his sen- 
tentious moral philosophy ; but although he 
lectured almost from the throne, he made no 
impression upon the public mind. Paul how- 
ever did, although confined either in a " prison" 
or in a private " house." There he began to 
raise the New Song, before " all that came to 
him ;" and soon it went out from the prison to 
the palace, and from his " hired house" to the 
haughtiest temples of Rome. It could neither 
be stopped by force nor modified by stratagem. 
The high altars of Jupiter blazed with holo- 
causts and hecatombs, but the unseen " blood 
of the Lamb" became the song of the people 
and of the army. The games and spectacles 
of imperial extravagance and priestly domina- 
tion multiplied; power rallied all its shields, 
and superstition struck all her harps, and idol- 
atry emblazoned aH her shrines to put down 
the New Song ; but it swelled and swept on 
from rank to rank in the capitol, until from be- 
ing only as the hum of an imprisoned bee, it 



THE NEW SONG. 101 

became like the sound of many waters, or ra- 
ther like its own full Hallelujah chorus in hea- 
ven ; for even before Paul visited the church at 
Rome, their faith was spoken of " throughout 
the whole world ;" and he increased both its 
fame and its fervency by his visit. 

Now who first took the key-note of the New 
Song from the apostles of the Lamb at Rome ? 
Paul has written both their early history and 
their original character: but we dare hardly 
read the account aloud, it is so shocking. It 
is generally passed over in silence. Even the 
ungodly shrink from it with disgust. And yet, 
redeeming Mercy was not shocked, nor dis- 
gusted, nor silent, when those vicious Romans 
applied to the " fountain opened for sin and un- 
cleanness." She did not shrink from them in 
anger or contempt. Why? Not of- course, 
that Mercy looked upon their sins without 
loathing and abhorrence ; but that she looked 
upon their immortal souls with sympathizing 
solicitude, and welcomed the opportunity of 
cleansing them from the pollution and power of 
sin, by cleansing them from the guilt of it. 
Again therefore I say, that this was not done 



102 NEWNESS OF 

for their sake only, but for our sake also ; to 
whom it shall be done, " if we believe in Him 
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ; 
who was delivered for our offences, and raised 
again for our justification." Rom. iv. 24, 25. 
It is mere fancy to suspect in the face of this 
miracle of mercy, that our case is worse than 
theirs was. We have indeed sinned against 
greater light ; and that light gives a peculiar 
aggravation even to ordinary sins : but it does 
not render them unpardonable, ~nor place the 
soul beyond the reach of Divine pity. It only 
binds us to be prompt and cordial in singing the 
New Song with adoring wonder and gratitude. 
It will complete this survey sufficiently for 
that purpose, if we now mark how new the New 
Song was in Jerusalem and Judea, when John 
wrote. There indeed, songs from heaven had 
long been sung, both in the Tabernacle and the 
Temple. A succession of prophets and psalm- 
ists had even anticipated some of the notes of 
the New Song, and uttered them in " dark say- 
ings" before the typical altars, which prefigured 
the cross of the Lamb of God. But not even 
when he was crucified and slain, although the 



THE NEW SON<& 103 

universe shook at the sacrifice, did the people 
or the priests understand it. Instead of a New 
Song, they imprecated new curses on the Lamb 
slain. They derided his atoning blood, as well 
as shed it. They dared its judicial penalty, as 
well as disbelieved its meritorious virtue. And 
yet, "Wonder, O heavens, and hear, O earth!" 
his last command was to " begin at Jerusalem" 
the first lessons of the New Song; and to teach 
them who had slain him, to sing "slain for us" 
This fact needs no comment. It defies despair! 
Whenever therefore you are tempted to 
doubt or despair, travel \he first journey of the 
chariot of salvation, and mark how the New 
Song spread. Observe who, and how many 
quitted the feet of Gamaliel, and the chair of 
Moses— the temples of idols and the tables of 
devils— the altars of war and the sinks of lust, 
to glory only in the cross* And who of all 
that motley and immoral group were forbidden 
to join with angels and the spirits of just men 
made perfect, in the New Song ? Who was 
ever dismissed from Jesus to Jupiter, to sing his 
old songs, when he came to learn it ? O, that 
lip breathes not— that heart beats not— that 



104 NEWNESS OF THE NEW SONG. 

conscience burns not— that sinner lives not on 
earth, who is not as welcome to sing the New 
Song for himself as is any angel or spirit around 
the throne in heaven. It cannot be more new 
in your lips or mine, than it was in all the lips 
that first sang it, when it went forth as the glo- 
rious gospel. 



105 



No. VI. 

PROVIDENCE AND THE NEW SONG. 

Whilst Redemption is the great theme of 
the New Song, we must not forget that, it begins 
at Providence. It was when the Saviour, as 
"the Lion of the tribe of Judah," or as the Go- 
vernor and Guardian of the church, took the 
seven-sealed book of prophetic purposes from 
the right hand of God, that the Song began : 
" Thou art worthy to take the book, and to 
open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and 
hast redeemed us by thy blood." Thus, as 
John " wept much," whilst no man in heaven 
nor on earth was found worthy to open that 
book, so all heaven rejoiced much, when they 
saw the providential management of the church 
and the world put into the hands of Christ. 
Then they were sure, that whatever was written 
& 



106 PROVIDENCE AND 

in the book of the Divine purposes, he would 
read aright and fulfil properly. His possession of 
the hook was a pledge to them, that there was 
nothing in the secret purposes of God at vari- 
ance with the public character or office of the 
Lamb. All his character became a pledge, 
that whatever was under the seals, his wisdom 
could comprehend ; his power execute ; his 
grace subordinate to the good of the church and 
the glory of God. 

This is the general fact of the case ; and with 
nothing else shall I meddle, This is quite enough 
for all practical and devotional purposes, in an 
explanation of the New Song itself. No inter- 
pretation of the Apocalyptic seals, trumpets, or 
vials, however correct, could throw much light 
on it. Indeed it is a better key to them, than 
they are to it. Any one may mistake the pre- 
cise meaning of a prophecy as to the time and 
place of its fulfilment ; but no one can mis- 
understand the fact, that the predicted event is 
in harmony with the New Song, and not un- 
worthy of * the Lamb's superintendence, nor 
inconsistent with his mediatorial character. All 
minds can comprehend this and repose upon it. 



THE NEW SONG. 107 

however mysterious or startling the aspects of 
unfulfilled prophecy may be. 

All minds will not indeed be satisfied with this 
simple fact. Modern interpreters deem all men 
simpletons or infidels, and doom them accord- 
ingly, who prefer to watch Providence as the 
Saviour conducts it, to studying prophecy as 
they treat it. One of their own guess dates, 
places, or persons might be more important than 
the general government or character of Christ ; 
and the number of the beast or the false prophet, 
a more useful discovery than the fact, that 

"The worlds of nature and of grace 
Are put beneath his power." 

Prophecy can only be wisely or usefully 
studied as Providence. Prophecy is Provi- 
dence in types, shadows, and symbols. The 
great providential events of every age and of 
every year are therefore the shadows passing 
into substance, under the direction of Christ. 
What precise shadow any great modern events 
are the substance of, we cannot be sure : we 
are however sure, that the transition from type 
to fact, from prophecy to Providence, is as much 
conducted by him now, as the types or predic- 



108 PEOVIDENCE AND 

tions of his first advent were fulfilled by him, 
when he was in the world. He as much does 
all things and all things well in Providence now, 
as he did in Redemption then : and as they are 
doing by him as the Redeemer and for the sake 
of redemption, Providence ought to be studied 
by all who sing the New Song, and always in 
connexion with the New Song. 

In no other connexion can Providence be use- 
fully studied either in great or small events. 
Neither its whispers nor its thunders will be 
rightly interpreted in our own case, or in refer- 
ence to the world and the church, unless redemp- 
tion be the light in which we both read and rea- 
son, look and listen. All the measures of the 
throne of Providence should be studied at the 
cross ; for all their immediate purpose is to 
maintain its authority, and all their final bear- 
ings to secure its dominion. To avenge its ne- 
glect or to advance its triumphs is the design of 
all personal, relative, and national providences. 
Whether the church be crucified to the world, 
or the world crucified to the church, both are so 
by the cross of Christ. All judgments are as 
much "the wrath of the Lamb," as all mercies 



THE NEW SONG. 109 

are the gifts of the Lamb. Whether he act as 
the Lion or as the Lamb of Judah, he acts for 
the glory of the cross. There is therefore no 
real difference, except in point of magnitude, be- 
tween personal and national providences. Their 
scheme is the same, however their scale may 
differ. Both have as their final and grand ob- 
ject to endear or to avenge the Saviour. 

We sadly mistake both the nature and design 
of Providence, if we imagine that it is pursuing 
one object in the case of individuals, and a differ- 
ent object in the case of nations. It is either 
beseeching each to be reconciled unto God by 
the blood of the cross, or punishing each for re- 
fusing to be reconciled. Your lot and mine are 
as much regulated by Providence, with an ex- 
press regard to our individual reconciliation or 
punishment, as the lot of an empire. " Kiss the 
Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish," is as 
much the language of all personal calamities to 
individuals and families, as it is of all public ca- 
lamities to cities or nations. The fate of both 
turns upon their treatment of the Saviour. In 
like manner, the language of all personal mer- 
cies is the same as that of all national mercies. 
k2 



110 PROVIDENCE AND 

" We beseech you, in Christ's stead, be ye re- 
conciled unto God." 

Thus you and myself are as much interested 
in Christ's providential opening of the sealed book 
of the Divine purposes, as kings upon their 
thrones or statesmen in their cabinets. Our af- 
fairs and fate are as much in his hands, as their 
destiny is. Our inferior rank no more places us 
beneath his notice, than their elevation places 
them above it. The seals include and cover the 
designs of God towards both ; and towards nei- 
ther are his secret designs arlitrai-y decrees. I 
mean that they are not irrespective of character 
or of conduct. Providence neither blesses nor 
curses any one, without a moral reason or a prac- 
tical design. Its dispensations were made for the 
man, and not the man made for the dispensations. 
No man comes into the world either to do or to 
endure things unsuited to his real character. No 
man has to fulfil any eternal purpose, because 
it is eternal ; but because it is suitable to what 
God foresaw that the man would be. Accord- 
ingly, no one acts a part unlike his real disposi- 
tion and character. Who does not see, that both 
Pharaoh and Herod acted quite in keeping with 



THE NEW S01NG. Ill 

their own natural spirit ? What they did, was 
only what they would have tried to do, if there 
had been no decrees to fulfil, or even if there 
had been a decree against doing it. They fol- 
lowed their own counsel, and God made that 
line of conduct fulfil his counsel. 

These general principles are both illustrated 
and confirmed by the events which followed the 
opening of the seven seals. Each seal covered 
an eternal and unalterable purpose, or a fixed 
plan of the Divine procedure, founded on no will 
but the will of God. So far it was an absolute 
decree. But, that it was not an arbitrary de- 
cree is self-evident from the fact, that the judg- 
ments it led to, were exactly such as the charac- 
ter of the world and the church called for at the 
time. The state of things, in the Roman Empire, 
that followed the opening of any seal, did not 
grow out of the fixed purpose which was then 
carried into effect, any farther or in any other 
way, than that purpose itself grew out of a for- 
mer state of things, which God had foreseen, and 
thus fore-provided to meet. A certain number 
of things were then to be certainly done and en- 
dured ; but they all arose out of other things 



112 PROVIDENCE AND 

which had been done by the world and the church 
before ; just as the deluge arose out of the pre- 
ceding guilt of the old world. The flood came 
at the fixed time, because it was decreed ; but it 
was decreed because God foresaw both the 
wickedness of men on the earth, and what judg- 
ment would best punish that wickedness. 

In a word ; many of the seals of the book of 
the Divine purposes have been opened— many 
of the trumpets sounded— many of the vials 
poured out ; and whoever will study the history 
of the times which preceded the fulfilment of 
any one sealed purpose, will see as clearly that 
the purpose itself was formed in foresight of and 
in adaptation to these times, as that it was 
strictly fulfilled at its own set time. All the 
sealed purposes were wise providences, planned 
and adjusted to some state of the world, which 
had grown out of a former state of character 
and conduct. 

So all national providences, whether in judg- 
ment or mercy, ever will go on : they will all be 
the accomplishment of God's fixed purposes, be- 
cause all his purposes themselves are wisely 
suited to the times of their fulfilment. This is 



THE NEW SONG. 113 

equally true in regard to personal and family- 
providences. They are all the opening of seal- 
ed purposes ; but of purposes which originated 
in the clear foresight of what we should be and 
do, and of what our character would require. 
Accordingly, however unlikely or trying or mys- 
terious some past providences have been, when 
they came upon us, we already begin to see, 
that they had a cause in our own hearts or ha- 
bits—in our own spirit or pursuits. They are 
not altogether such mysteries to ourselves, as 
they may seem to others, nor as they at first 
seemed to us. We may not like to confess it at 
all, to others, nor fully to ourselves ; but we 
know pretty well, and might know better if we 
chose,— what evil the finger of Providence 
pointed at; what besetting sin its rod struck at; 
and what line of duty it was driving us to. Other 
plagues than those of Egypt, compel men to 
say with Pharaoh, " I have sinned against the 
Lord." 

Having thus glanced at the moral principles 
or reasons of the providential purposes of God, 
and seen that they are not arbitrary, however 
secret or sovereign they may be ; let us now 



114 PROVIDENCE AND 

consider how the mediatorial administration of 
all Providence by the Saviour, is calculated to 
cheer, as well as to impress our minds. 

In reference to us, as well as to the world 
and the church at large, the sealed book of the 
Divine purposes is in the Saviour's hands. Could 
it be in better hands ? We both know and love 
him too little, if we are not delighted with the 
fact, that "our times are in his hands.' 3 Hands 
once nailed to the cross in sacrifice and for ever 
lifted up at the throne in intercession for us, are 
sure not to afflict us willingly, nor unnecessarily, 
nor unduly, when they break the successive 
seals of our earthly lot. We ought, therefore, 
to take our trials as meekly from his hands, as 
he willingly took the book of their plan from the 
right hand of God. He took it without reluc- 
tance or hesitation ; yea with such readiness and 
delight, that he was evidently sure that it con- 
tained nothing unnecessary or unkind, or at all 
at variance with his mediatorial character. Well 
therefore may we take the dispensations of Pro- 
vidence meekly, seeing he took the administra- 
tion of them cheerfully. 

This is the point on which our attention should 



THE NEW SONG. 115 

be concentrated ; for we shall never bear our 
trials well, nor profit much under them, until we 
take them as from the hands of the Saviour. It 
is not enough to acknowledge a general provi- 
dence in them, however wise or equitable we may 
call that Providence. There is no providence — 
but just what Christ, as the Mediator, exercises 
and superintends. He wears the crown, and 
wields the sceptre of all Providence. All power 
in heaven and on earth is lodged in His hands. 
The Father judgeth no man now or hereafter : 
but hath committed all judgment, present and 
final, to the Son. It is all indeed the providence 
of the Father too, because it all originates in his 
will, and terminates in his glory. He is there- 
fore paternally, as much interested in and occu- 
pied with Providence, as the Son is mediatori- 
ally : but still, the Son is the administrator of the 
entire kingdom of providence, or as much its 
reigning King, as he is the only Mediator of the 
covenant of grace. In a word ; the Saviour has 
just as much to do with all that befalls us in Pro- 
vidence, as with all that is bestowed on us by 
grace. Pardon and eternal life are not more the 
fruit of his blood and the gift of his hand, than 



116 PROVIDENCE AND 

providences are the appointments of his wisdom 
and the applications of his power. Were this 
fact kept clearly and constantly in view, we 
should at least try to take our trials in something 
of the same spirit in which we welcome the bless- 
ings of salvation ; and thus they would both sit 
easier and work better upon us. 

It is not however very easy to get thoroughly 
into this habit of thinking about all Providence, 
as the acts of the Saviour. Providence and 
grace are so often distinguished and even sepa- 
rated from each other, in ordinary conversation, 
and even in good books, that we forget their 
union in the hands of Christ, or have but a con- 
fused notion of it. And as many will talk about 
Providence, who would not listen to any thing 
about Christ, we are thus led farther astray from 
the scriptural facts of the case. Hence we fall 
into the habit of ascribing Providence to the Fa- 
ther, Redemption to the Son, and Sanctification 
to the Spirit, almost exclusively. Indeed this 
seems to us the most natural order of the Divine 
administration : so much and so long has it been 
the popular opinion. Now although there is 
certainly no heresy, nor unholy tendency in the 



THE NEW SONG. 117 

popular opinion, there is not scriptural accuracy 
in it. There is much truth in it ; but there is 
also some error. The Father is the God of Pro- 
vidence, just as he is the God of Salvation : both 
originated in his good will as plans ; but both as 
measures or acts are executed by the Son. We 
ought therefore to look at all the Saviour's place 
and part in the workings of Providence, as well 
as in the work of redemption ; for he is officially 
all and all in both. 

I am not attaching more importance to this 
revealed fact than it deserves. This is its place 
in the Bible, and this should be its form and place 
in our hearts, and in our habits of thinking and 
speaking about Providence. Now you would 
not wonder nor weary, were I to show clearly 
that a habit of thinking about redemption as the 
work of Christ is calculated to endear Christ and 
redemption too. We should be sad losers, if we 
referred seldom or slightly to the Saviour's heart 
and hand, when we thought of salvation. His 
blood ; his image ; his example— his eye upon 
the great salvation, creates and keeps up our 
sense of its greatness. And we neither see its 
freeness nor its glory, but as we look at Him. 

L 



118. PROVIDENCE AND 

When we do not see enough in him to love and 
trust, we do see enough in the promises to en- 
courage us. The gospel is to us always what 
Christ is to us. The more we keep him in view, 
the more we can hope for salvation, and the 
sweeter it is to our hopes. 

Now thus it would be as to Providence, were 
the Saviour's connexion with it kept equally in ' 
view. That connexion is equally great and in- 
timate and inseparable. He exercises Provi- 
dence, that he may apply redemption. He re- 
gulates our temporal lot, with an express regard 
to our spiritual and eternal interests. Christ is 
therefore more than the Christian's refuge, in the 
day of calamity and during the pressure of trials : 
he is also the author and manager of these trials ; 
and thus feels a double interest in them, from 
his sympathy with the sufferer, and from his 
knowledge of the cause and design of the suf- 
ferings. 

What I want to learn and to teach on this 
subject is therefore, that Providence should send 
us as direct to Christ, as the gospel does. And 
who would not be a gainer, by this habit of 
judging and acting under the vicissitudes of life : 



THE NEW SONG. 119 

It is indeed much and strong consolation under 
calamity, to hide ourselves under the shadow of 
His wings, until it be overpast : but it would 
both increase this consolation, and help us to en- 
joy it sooner, if we were to meet the calamity 
from the first, saying, — "It is the Providence of 
the Saviour. The will of the Saviour. The hand 
of the Saviour." This distinct and devout recog- 
nition of him in our trials*would throw us at once 
upon the fact, that he would not afflict without 
a cause — nor for an unkind purpose — nor in an 
undue degree. Thus from the first we should 
have all his character and spirit as the pledge, 
that the affliction, whatever it were, was well 
timed and wisely ordered. 

Besides, and I pray you to mark it, we are most 
in the habit of judging of our hearts and lives, 
as they accord or disagree with the Saviour's 
claims upon our love and obedience. Were we 
therefore to view trying providences as the ex- 
pression of his opinion of our hearts and lives, 
we should understand the rod at once, and know 
its precise design. 

Neither the point nor the propriety of this 
reasoning is at all weakened by the fact, that 



120 PROVIDENCE AND 

the Saviour conducts Providence according to 
the eternal purpose of God. That does not make 
Providence any thing, that his own prudence 
would not make it, if there had been no eternal 
purposes. He acts indeed according to a fixed 
plan ; but it is a fixed, because a. Jit plan, and in 
nowise different from what he would have done, 
if he had acted on the spur of the moment. 

Why should it be necessary to speak in this 
way, when the purposes and decrees of God 
are mentioned ? I regret the necessity of saying 
strong and startling things on the subject; but I 
dare not shrink from the duty, so long as I see 
that the eternity and unchangeableness of the 
Divine plans are interpreted as symptoms of ar- 
bitrary will. They just prove the very opposite 
to be the fact. They are from everlasting to 
everlasting, just because in every instance they 
are the very thing that ought to be done, and 
that would have been done, had every case been 
met at the moment it arose by providential mea- 
sures suited to it. Christ, without a plan or act- 
ing according to his own judgment, would do all 
that he does with a plan. The history of Provi- 
dence, as conducted by his discretion, would not 



THE NEW SONG. 12l 

differ one iota from the prophecy of Providence. 
His heart would dictate nothing, and his hand 
do nothing different from what the diamond pen 
of sovereignty has written in the sealed book of 
the Divine purposes. 

What then it may be asked, is the use of the 
book ? If you think this a puzzling question, 
you have never thought much on the subject. 
It will however readily occur to you now, that 
God does not need it as a remembrancer of his 
own purposes, nor the Saviour need it as the rule 
of his conduct. God does not forget his designs, 
nor could the Saviour mistake in any case. The 
book is his rule of procedure in managing all 
things : not because he needs direction from it, 
but because we need instruction and warning. 
A decretive form is thus given to the Divine 
will, that we may not think that will vacillating 
or uncertain. It would not have done at all, to 
leave us to suppose that God had no fixed plan 
or principle of acting. We in that case would 
have devised plans for him, and each of us a 
plan suited to our own wishes : and thus there 
would have been no rule to judge by in inter- 
preting Providence. But now, Providence comes 
l2 



122 PROVIDENCE AND THE NEW SONG. 

before us as the fruit of eternal purposes, adopt- 
ed not amidst the pressure of circumstances or 
on the spur of the moment; but in calm delibe- 
ration upon the foreseen character of all circum- 
stances, as they all stood open to Omniscience 
before time began. This fixes the man who re- 
flects ! He sees that he has neither to fear nor 
hope, amongst a host of accidents and chances ; 
but to look for certainties exactly adapted to his 
real character. Thus he learns, that secret sin 
mill be found out ; that backsliding will become 
bitter ; that God will mend him or end him. 



123 



No. Til. 

REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF THE NEW SONG. 

Every redeemed man, in heaven and on 
earth, is both a king and a priest unto God and 
reigns with Christ on the earth. This is just 
as much certain and sober truth, although little 
noticed and less understood on earth, as that 
every redeemed man is both a believer and a 
penitent. He is a king and a priest too, whe- 
ther he know it or not. He reigns also with 
Christ, as surely as he is redeemed by Christ, 
and as truly as he serves or imitates the Sa- 
viour* 

It is however in one sense, no slight proof of 
true faith and penitence, not to have allowed 
ourselves hitherto to think of this. Prodigals, 
even after they are come to their right mind 
and weeping at their Father's feet, may well 



124 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

confine themselves for many days, to saying, " I 
am no more worthy to be called thy son ; make 
me as one of thy hired servants." This is more 
natural, and more proper too at first, than to 
sing at the dawn of hope, " Thou hast made us 
kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign 
with thee on the earth." That song, although 
both true and warranted from the very first day 
of conversion, cannot be speedily appropriated, 
nor even fully understood by converts. Indeed 
the reality of his conversion is not a point on 
which a penitent is easily satisfied. It is not 
soon nor summarily that he makes up his mind 
to believe himself to be a true believer. His 
opinion of his own faith and repentance under- 
goes many a change. He is often afraid of the 
sincerity of both, and never fully satisfied with 
the strength of either. He intends his believing 
for faith, and his humility for penitence ; but he 
does not hastily nor often pronounce- them to 
be so. 

This is so much the case with all who are 
truly serious, and so long the case with many 
of the followers of Christ, that we cannot won- 
der at their silence, when the New Song rises 



THE NEW SONG. 125 

to the kingship, and priesthood, and reign of the 
redeemed. Then even those who can sing, 
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for ws," 
do not venture to apply to themselves the last 
clause of the song : that they confine to the re- 
deemed in heaven. They never imagine and 
can hardly believe when told, that it can apply 
to any one out of heaven : and they are quite 
sure that it does not apply to them. " Kings 
and priests unto God !" they never dreamt of 
such a thing in their own case ! They never 
thought of being any thing higher than sons 
and daughters of the Lord God Almighty : and 
even that is often too high for their hopes to 
realize. Could they only feel sure of being ac- 
cepted servants, they would be more than satis- 
fied. Could they only sing, " Washed us from 
our sins in his own blood," they would leave to 
any one the privilege, whatever it be, of being 
kings and priests unto God. Redemption by 
Christ, not reigning with Christ on earth, is 
their grand object. 

I need not say that you feel this to be true. 
What however if learning to regard themselves 
as kings and priests unto God and as intended 



126 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

to reign with Christ on the earth, should be 
found on examination to be the best way of 
ascertaining personal redemption 1 What, if it 
can be proved, that the only way of raising 
hope to the assurance of faith is to proceed to 
act upon the revealed fact, that believers are 
" a royal priesthood ?" What would you think, 
if it were demonstrated, that one great reason 
why so few can sing habitually, " slain for us," 
is because they do not consider themselves to 
be a regal and reigning priesthood 1 

You may think this an unlikely cause of fear 
and suspense, because it seems so unlike all the 
usual causes assigned for the weakness of hope 
and the lowness of enjoyment. Having never 
heard nor dreamt of such a thing, you can hardly 
believe that I am altogether serious in thus sug- 
gesting it. I am however quite serious ; and 
quite sure too, that it is the form not the spirit 
of the sentiment that differs from ordinary opin- 
ion. Every good man means all that I have 
yet said, and more too, when he confesses that 
Christians " do not live up to their privileges." 
Let us however see first what the word of God 
teaches on this subject. Now what John heard 



THE NEW SONG. 127 

the church in heaven sing about their regal and 
reigning priesthood, he taught the church on 
earth to sing also. " Unto him that loved us, 
and washed us from our sins in his own blood 
and hath made us kings and priests unto God 
and his Father : to him be glory and dominion 
for ever and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6. 
Whatever this mean therefore, its meaning ap- 
plies to Christians on earth as well as to glorified 
spirits in heaven. In like manner, Peter says 
expressly to all to whom Christ is precious, " Ye 
are a royal priesthood" — " a holy priesthood, 
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable unto 
God by Jesus Christ." 1 Peter ii. 5—9. In 
like manner, as to reigning with Christ, Paul 
says to all who are quickened by the Holy 
Spirit, " God hath quickened us together with 
Christ, and hath raised us up together and made 
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Je- 
sus." Eph. ii. 6, 7. To afflicted believers also 
he says, "If we suffer with him, we shall also 
reign with him." 2 Tim. ii. 12. Of all the 
family of God, Paul says, " If Children, then 
heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." 
Rom. viii. 17. " They who receive abun- 



128 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

dance of grace, and of the gift of righteous- 
ness, shall reign in life by Jesus Christ." — 
Rom. v. 17. 

This fact is taught also by the Saviour. 
"Verily, I say unto you. that ye who have fol- 
lowed me in the regeneration, when the Son of 
Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also 
shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
tribes of Israel." Matt. xix. 28. " To him that 
overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set 
with my Father on his throne." Rev. iii. 21. 
" To him that overcometh, and keepeth my 
works unto the end, to him will I give power 
over the nations, and he shall rule them." Rev. 
ii. 26. Thus whatever be the meaning of the 
regal and reigning priesthood of believers, it is 
a revealed fact common to the saints on earth, 
as well as to the saints in heaven. 

Modern millenarians would readily agree to 
this, were it not preceded by appeals to Chris- 
tian experience, which recognise, as true Chris- 
tians millions who either know nothing, or care 
nothing about their carnal and vulgar notions 
of Christ's personal reign on earth. They 



THE NEW SONG. 129 

mean by the mutual reign of Christ and Chris- 
tians on the earth, nothing more nor better than 
the mother of Zebedee's children meant, when 
she wished that her two sons might be the prime 
ministers of the Messiah in a temporal kingdom. 
To sit at his right or his left hand, even if in the 
clouds, to be stared at by the world and envied 
by the church, seems to be the height of their 
ambition, and the very climax of glory. And 
because good men however wise care nothing 
about such a distinction, millenarians reckon 
them foolish, if not bad men. I am however 
quite content to be reckoned by them whatever 
they choose, so long as they identify me with 
those who look and labour for the spiritual reign 
of Christ on earth. I willingly resign the clouds, 
both as thrones and chariots, to those who have 
a taste for such aerial elevation, if I may be 
associated with those who pray in cottages, 
preach in barns, teach the young, and try to 
spread the gospel throughout the world. Christ 
reigns when Christianity spreads ; and those 
reign most and best with him on earth, who do 
and pray most for its extension. 

Short and slight as this reference to modern 



130 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

notions of the personal reign of Christ on earth 
is, it is too long for my own patience, and too 
moderate for my own feelings. I have no sym- 
pathy of any kind, except pity for them, with 
those perverted minds which can treat the 
church as Babylon, because she does not treat 
the world as Sodom. Their selfish and secular 
enjoyments I willingly leave for the pleasure of 
joining angels in their joy over penitents, and 
for the honour of reciprocating the Saviour's 
feelings of satisfaction, as he sees " the travail 
of his soul" in the success of his gospel. I wish 
no other reign for him nor with him on earth, 
but his practical reign over the hearts and habits 
of mankind. For that he died once ; and for 
that he lives for ever ; and, therefore for that 
only, I look, long, and labour. 

It is, I am fully aware, of no consequence 
and of no use towards settling the meaning of 
this part of the New Song, what I think or feel. 
My pity for modern millenarians proves no more, 
what is the mind of the Spirit, than does their 
contempt for me. Neither is argument when 
fact is concerned. What then is fact, — when 
the reign of Christ on earth is the subject ? Did 



THE NEW SONG. 131 

he not reign and triumph gloriously, when the 
gospel was first preached to the world ? The 
Caesars of Rome soon found His doves to be 
more powerful than their eagles, and His cross 
more triumphant than their banners. The priests 
of Jupiter and Baal soon found that his sacrifice 
displaced their altars, and alienated their tem- 
ples from idolatry. Even the chairs of Plato in 
Greece and of Seneca in the capitol, although 
shaded with the laurels of a hallowing antiquity, 
and enshrined with the lamps of power and pa- 
tronage, were deserted for the " hired house" of 
an apostle, or for the simple grave of a martyr. 
Then Christains reigned with Christ on the 
earth ; and without legislating or usurping, be- 
came the kings of emperors, and the priests of 
hierarchies. They reigned with Christ, by liv- 
ing or dying for the glory of Christ, as circum- 
stances required. They insulted no throne by 
clamour and cringed to none by petition ; but 
simply created a public opinion, which became 
political power that no throne could resist nor 
control. 

Was not this reigning on earth ? The cabi- 
nets of policy and the sanhedrim of priestcraft, 



132 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

found, felt, and confessed it to be so. And 
at last, Jupiter became ashamed to launch his 
thunderbolts, and Csesars to issue their edicts, 
and philosophers to utter their tirades against 
Christianity. They shrunk from the unequal 
contest, and were glad to pay homage to 
" another king ;■— one Jesus." 

Thus Christ's reign on earth began ; and 
thus Christians reigned with him, both as kings 
and priests unto God. He wrought by them, 
and thus they reigned with him. So it is still. 
Wherever he reigns they reign with him, be- 
cause he works by them in all the extensions 
of his kingdom. The dominion is still given 
to the saints of the Most High. They indeed 
give all the glory of all the good done by their 
instrumentality, to Christ ; but Christ, although 
he does not divide that glory with them, gives 
them a full share of its joys and employs it all 
for their good. They are thus "joint heirs 
with Christ," whenever a neighbourhood or a 
nation 

11 Crown Him Lord of all." 

Accordingly, whatever they may call their 
pleasure, when they see their neighbours won 



THE NEW SONG. 183 

to Christ, or hear of the kingdoms of this world 
becoming His kingdom, they cannot help feel- 
ing a personal interest in all such events. 
Christians instinctively triumph in his triumphs, 
rejoice in his joys, and glory in his glorifica- 
tion. Individually no one may say, or ought 
to say, " My prayers took effect in that foreign 
conquest, or in this home conversion ;" but 
collectively they both may and ought to say, 
" Our prayers have been answered ; our in- 
strumentality blessed ; our labours crowned 
with success. This is only saying, in other 
words, " Thanks be unto God, who causeth us 
to triumph in Christ." 

It is exceedingly desirable that this feeling 
should prevail widely and warmly in every 
church ; for until it do so, much will not be 
done for the world, and consequently but little 
will be enjoyed by the church. We must act 
as kings and pray as priests unto God, and thus 
try to reign more with Christ on earth, if we 
would sing with heavenly freedom or constancy, 
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, 
and who loved us, and washed us from our sins 
in his own blood." Whoever would sing this 
m 2 



134 EEGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

for himself with an unwavering tongue, must 
try to be a king or a priest unto God ; for 
Christ gave himself for us, not only that he 
might redeem us from all iniquity, but also that 
he might make us " zealous of good works." 
We must set ourselves to the duty of healing 
the nations by the leaves of the tree of life, if 
we would eat of all the twelve manner of its 
ripe fruits. 

Are we then "priests unto God?" What 
place or proportion does intercession for a per- 
ishing world hold in our prayers ? It is the 
first petition in the Lord's Prayer. Is it last 
or but languid in our prayers? This is alas ! 
too often the case. We do not indeed always 
confine ourselves to our own wants or woes, 
when pouring out our hearts unto God at the 
throne of grace ; but we do so too much. In 
general, we allow so little time for prayer that 
we leave hardly any room for intercession on 
behalf of others ; or when compelled by the 
pressure of our own cares to pray much, we 
are tempted to forget others entirely. I call 
this a temptation ; for it is not the less so, be- 
cause it is very natural to be thus absorbed 



THE NEW SONG. 135 

about ourselves, when care or fear renders us 
very prayerful. Satan knows it to be very 
natural ; and as he knows too that God signally 
honours the spirit of supplication, when as in 
the case of Job it prays for others, he tries to 
divert us from remembering the world or the 
church, that he may prevent in our case the 
success of Job, whose "captivity the Lord turn- 
ed, when he prayed for his friends." 

I have often thought when considering this 
fact, that it would be wise to set apart, once a 
week, the whole time of the morning or evening 
secret devotion, to intercessory prayer alone. 
I am quite persuaded that instead of being at 
all losers by this, we should be positive and 
great gainers. God would not forget us, if we 
were thus to forget ourselves in order to re- 
member a perishing world and a struggling 
church. It is well, and we ought to be intent 
on our own safety, sanctification, and spiritual 
comfort. If we care little about them, we shall 
not pray at all for others. Let us not forget 
however that sacred oracle, " Pray for the 
peace of Jerusalem ; they shall prosper' that 
love thee." He who penned that injunction 



136 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

when God gave it, saw so clearly its authority 
and propriety, that he said for himself, " Let 
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I 
prefer not Jerusalem to my chief joy," 

Now we know what was David's chief per- 
sonal joy : it was the light of God's countenance 
shining upon his own soul, as the joy of salva- 
tion. No man ever prayed more frequently or 
fervently for personal hope and comfort than 
David. He was never easy, when his peace or 
consolation was at a low ebb. But even when 
they were highest, he had a higher relative joy 
than his chief personal joy,— the glory of God 
in the welfare of the church. Accordingly, 
even when praying most for himself, and when 
his trials were heaviest and his heart saddest, 
as well as when rejoicing in God, David always 
breathes some ardent petition for Zion and the 
world. In this respect the king was emphati- 
cally "a priest unto God." Was David a loser 
by this ? No ; many a time was his captivity, 
like that of Job, turned into spiritual life and 
liberty, whilst he thus prayed for others as well 
as for himself. 

This is a part of the Christian priestly office, 



THE NEW SONG. 137 

which the saints in heaven are not called to 
exercise. It does not appear to be any part of 
their duty, to make " intercession for all men," 
or for any man. That, God has devolved upon 
" the living in Jerusalem ;" not on " the dead 
in Christ." At least, we know nothing at all to 
the contrary. The sacrifice of praise is the 
only sacrifice which the saints in glory present 
at the altar, where they are priests unto God. 
This is as well ordered as it is sure : for did 
they pray for us, we should either not pray at 
all for ourselves or others, or pray more to 
them than to God. Accordingly, this takes 
place wherever Popery can withhold the Bible : 
there it upholds the invocation of the saints 
and makes them greater intercessors than the 
Saviour. 

This we readily and deeply condemn. Has 
Protestantism however taken up the work which 
she so properly took away from saints and an- 
gels ? Have we become in fact to the world, 
what Popery made them in fancy ? Remember 
that our recognition of Christ as the Mediator 
and Advocate between God and man is not 
complete nor correct, if we imagine that His 



138 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF 

intercession supersedes the necessity of ours, 
or that it is by His prayers that the world is to 
be converted. "I pray not for the world," is 
his own account of his intercession. " Prayer 
shall be made /or him continually," is the scrip- 
tural rule in regard to the coming of his king- 
dom. Thus prayer for the world is thrown 
upon the church on earth exclusively, although 
all its efficacy arises from the much incense of 
his golden censer, as the Mediator of the new 
covenant. 

We need to be more alive to the claims of 
this duty : and it will perhaps help us some- 
what to feel the obligation, if we ask ourselves, 
What should we think of the saints in heaven, 
were prayer instead of praise their chief duty ; 
if they refused or were reluctant to pray for 
those whom they had left on earth ? You are 
shocked at the savage supposition ! Were it 
their duty, you are sure it would be their de- 
light. Well ; it is your duty ; is it then your 
delight ? 

Never shall I forget the following thrilling 
appeal on this subject, at the close of a sermon 
on social prayer, by the classical Tutor of 



THE NEW SONG. 139 

Highbury College. " You know the worth of 
the soul ; you see multitudes who are ready to 
perish. I look upon you and upon all Christians, 
as sustaining the awfully responsible character 
of intercessors for a dying world. You stand 
between the living and the dead ; you can stay 
the plague; you can present the groans of the 
dying to the Author of life, and bring down in 
return the healthful and refreshing Spirit of 
grace. I appeal to the yearnings of your 
Christian charity, to the solemnities of the sta- 
tion you occupy, to the magnitude of the inter- 
ests which are intrusted to your care. As priests 
unto God, you are within the veil ; you have 
the blood of the noblest sacrifice ; you bear the 
censer of the sweetest incense ; you stand be- 
fore the mercy-seat, and beneath the wings of 
the cherubim. As soon would I imagine the 
Jewish priest within the holy place to forget the 
solemnities of the great day of expiation, as 
suspect you of the criminal and heartless apa- 
thy of neglecting, in so auspicious a character, 
to pray for the church and the world. I might 
rise to still higher considerations, and touch on 
that thrilling motive —your love to the Saviour ; 



140 REGAL PRIESTHOOD OF THE NEW SONG. 

while I plead with you, for the sake of the 
Good Shepherd, to pray for the flock for which 
he laid down his life ; for the sake of the Hus- 
band, to pray for his beloved bride the church ; 
for the sake of the Father, to pray for his chil- 
dren ; for the sake of the Maker, to pray for all 
men, * for He hath made of one blood all nations 
of men upon earth.' " 



141 



No. VIII. 

DOXOLOGY OF THE NEW SONG. 

If we really feel any adoring gratitude .to 
God and the Lamb, for the great salvation of 
the cross, we shall do more than sing the Dox- 
ology of the New Song. Our lives as well as 
our lips should show forth the high praises of 
our God and Saviour. Our whole character, 
spirit and deportment should be a living hymn 
of practical gratitude, waxing louder and sweeter 
as we draw nearer to eternity. 

This familiar remark is sometimes made for 
the purpose of undervaluing good singing, or 
scientific music. Such is not its purpose, nor 
its spirit here. As now made, it is only a calm 
protest against mere singing, whether good or 
bad. No music, vocal or instrumental, can do 
devotional justice to the New Song. Even the 



142 DOXOLOGY Of 

harps of glory would be mockery of it, if they 
breathed only befitting music. There can how- 
ever be no sin nor inconsistency in setting it to 
music, of which the sound 

"Is echo to the sense*" 

Few minds are insensible to the charm of such 
sounds ; and all minds need occasionally some 
impulse, to concentrate, or to sublimate their 
attention. Man's natural taste for expressive 
mtisic is too general not to have a moral pur- 
pose. Those therefore who have no taste nor 
ear for "sweet sounds," should not resolve the 
delight of others into the vain pleasures of hear- 
ing themselves sing. There are no doubt mere 
exhibiters of voice and science, who think of 
nothing beyond masterly execution, even when 
redemption is the theme: for Jewish singers 
are not the only persons who join in Chris- 
tian anthems without faith or feeling. This 
evil is however but the abuse of what is really 
good in itself. There would not perhaps be 
more melody in the heart of man to the Lord, 
if there were less music in the world. I mean 
that the abandonment of singing or the absence 
of good singing would not improve devotion, at 



THE NEW SONG. 143 

home or in the sanctuary. Many indeed give 
far more time and attention to sacred music, 
than to the sacred subjects of it: but such per-' 
sons would not study these subjects more, if they 
were divorced from music or stripped of all its 
charms. One thing at least is certain : good 
music has never set any one against a good 
subject ; whereas bad music has. 

Do we however enter fully into the spirit and 
des,gn of the New Song ; even when om feelings 
correspond with our words and sounds? Is it 
enough to sing it with the understanding and 
the heart? We readily allow that we do nothing 
to the purpose, if we do not make melody in our 
hearts unto the Lord, when we join in this doxo- 
logy. The state of our hearts is however very 
much dependent upon the state of our habits 
and conscience. There cannot be much melody 
in the heart, if there be but little consistency in 
the life. It is therefore not enough, that we 
breathe whatever portion of feeling we have 
into our songs of praise; the question is also, do 
we so live as to let the heart feel aright ? We 
cannot of course breathe more gratitude or love 
than we feel : but could we not feel more by 



144 DOXOLOGY OF 

acting better ? Are there not some habits and 
tempers the improvement of which would im- 
prove our hearts in all devotional feelings? If 
there be, it would ill become us to satisfy our- 
selves with the bare fact, that we are not hypo- 
critical nor heedless when we sing the praises 
of redeeming love. The consciousness of breath- 
ing some heart into the New Song must not di- 
vert us from the solemn question, 

" Why is my heart so far from Thee ?' 5 
It is well, it is a mercy, to have any melody 
in the heart to the Lord. We ought however 
to have more than a little on such a theme ; and 
if that little be genuine, we wish to have more. 
Let us therefore honestly examine how it may 
be increased. 

Be not afraid of this process of self-examina- 
tion. I am in pursuit of nothing impracticable 
or visionary. Nothing is further from my de- 
sign, than to promote ecstasies of feelings in- 
compatible with the business and cares of real 
life. I want to sweeten life and to balance its 
trials, by the sober experience of a well-ascer- 
tained interest in redemption. Let us therefore 
study together the Doxology of the New Song. 



THE NEW SONG. 145 

Its first note is, " Blessing" unto God and 
the Lamb for ever. You remember one who 
said, " I will bless the Lord at all times." In 
order to do this, David was in the habit of sum- 
moning and charging his soul, from time to time, 
to keep up the duty : "Bless the Lord, O my 
soul." He often looked also at the obligations 
of others to ascribe blessing unto God, and thus 
strengthened his own sense of duty by praying, 
"And let all flesh bless His holy name for ever." 
He even helped on his own gratitude, by re- 
membering the obligations of all in heaven, as 
well as of all upon the earth. Hence, he sum- 
moned the celestial hosts to join him : " Bless 
the Lord, ye his angels, all ye his hosts, ye 
ministers of his, that do his pleasure." He even 
made the inanimate universe tributary to his 
own gratitude, and summoned it thus : " Bless 
the Lord, all his works, in all places of his do- 
minion : bless the Lord, O my soul." 

I mention all this, not chiefly for the sake of 
its sublimity, but to show how sincere gratitude 
will take some pains to be lively. David did 
not leave his to accident, nor to depend on the 
impulse of the moment. He tried all suitable 
n2 



146 D0X0L0GY OF 

means of keeping up a thankful frame of mind. 
And if he required all these helps in order to 
make melody in his heart to the Lord, how much 
more do we need them ! I do not however ask 
now, whether we imitate David by calling on 
all worlds and all creatures to join us in blessing 
God and the Lamb, for the great salvation : but 
do we call upon our souls " and all that is within" 
us, to be stirred up to liveliness and delight in 
the duty? Do we summon and charge our souls 
to be sincerely and fervently grateful for the 
unspeakable gift of an atoning Saviour ? Our 
souls are prone to be forgetful, or negligent, or 
dull ; do we therefore let them take their own 
way then, or do we take measures to prevent 
and check their wanderings 1 

Remember, it is no excuse for a low ebb of 
gratitude or love, to say that we cannot always 
appropriate the New Song to ourselves. There 
is abundant reason for blessing both God and 
the Lamb, even when we cannot sing, " Worthy 
is the Lamb that was slain for us, to receive 
blessing, and honour, and glory." He is worthy 
to receive them from us, on the single ground 
that his sacrifice is sufficient to be the " propitia- 



THE NEW SONG. 147 

tion for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also 
for the sins of the whole world." This is cause 
enough for daily and adoring thankfulness, even 
if we had no other causes. But we have many 
more. We are invited, encouraged, urged, be- 
sought, and commanded by God and the Lamb, 
to trust this all-sufficient atonement. Nor is 
this all our warrant to hope. For, what is our 
sense of needing it ? our desire of an interest in 
it ? our willingness to be indebted to it? and our 
cordial approval of its holy design? What is 
all this but the effect of that special agency of 
the Spirit, by which he " takes of the things of 
Christ, and shows them" to the soul ? Our souls 
do see them, and admire them, and value them, 
in a way they did not at one time. We could 
not make light of eternal things now, nor be 
satisfied with a form of godliness. Yea, we 
could account nothing to be the power of godli- 
ness, but a religion in which Christ crucified 
was " all in all." 

Here then are causes for cherishing and ex- 
pressing daily gratitude for redeeming love. 
Let us therefore try how much heart and soul 
we can breathe into our morning and evening 



148 DOXOLOGY OF 

sacrifice of heart-melody. Whilst thus trying 
to make it a living sacrifice, there may soon fall 
upon it some " holy fire" from heaven, which 
shall make it flame up from the altar of our 
hearts towards the cross and the throne, as high 
as the gratitude of the primitive believers. Do 
not fail to bless God and the Lamb daily, if 
you wish to be more, or at all blessed by them. 
Ascribe " blessing" to them, if you would taste 
blessedness from them. Have stated times, 
however short, when you call your soul to this 
duty. Never imagine that it must be useless, 
when it must be short. Let it be intended grati- 
tude ; and the shortness of its expression when 
inevitable, will not cause the dejection of its 
spirit when honest. 

If these hints help you at all, you may help 
yourself much more, by resolving and taking 
care that your life, as well as your lips and 
heart, should show forth the high praises of re- 
demption. That will " mightily help" your heart 
to feel aright. A life which is in practical dis- 
cord with the harmonies of the New Song, 
will spoil its melody in any heart. The apos- 
tles knew this well, and threw the duty of praise 



THE NEW SONG. 149 

upon the whole character of their converts : "Ye 
are a peculiar people, that ye should show forth 
the praises of him who called you out of dark- 
ness into his marvellous light." We should be 
" to the praise of the glory of his grace." 

The second note of the Doxology is, " Ho- 
nour" unto God and the Lamb. This too must 
be practical, as well as vocal and cordial. It 
is not enough just to escape that censure,— 
" This people honour mewith their lips, but their 
heart is far from me." Our hearts cannot ho- 
nour God much nor well, if our actions do not 
honour him. No appeal of a profligate child to 
the unextinguished spark of natural love in his 
heart for his parents can apologize for actions 
or habits which dishonour them. If the spark 
be not extinct in his heart, the more base is his 
profligacy, because against natural affection. 
God therefore appeals thus : " If, then, I be a 
father, where is mine honour ?" Now although 
it is nowhere, if it be not in our hearts, it is 
equally true that God is not much honoured by 
them, if our life do not honour him. I say " ho- 
nour" him ; for it is not enough that we merely 
avoid dishonouring God. It is indeed well, and 



150 DOXOLOGY OF 

a mercy too, to be kept from disgracing our 
profession. I do not think lightly nor little of 
even that negative virtue. It will be a positive 
help to any man, who has yet to begin the great 
work of "adorning the doctrines of his God and 
Saviour." Men who have openly dishonoured 
them, find it no easy matter either to get over 
their fall, or to regain a character. Still, it is 
but a poor account of a Christian, when nothing 
more can be said of him, than that he does not 
exactly dishonour the holy name by which he 
is called. He ought to be some honour to it also, 
because he might be so in some way. 

Let us look this duty fully in the face. What 
is the first express command to honour God, 
which occurs to you? It is most likely that well- 
known law of heaven, " Honour the Lord with 
thy substance, and with the first-fruits of thine 
increase." Prov. hi. 9, It was in connexion 
with the dislike and neglect of this duty, that 
God said, " If then I be a Father, where is mine 
honour?" The Jews of that age, both priests 
and people, kept up all the forms of public wor- 
ship ; but they even tried how cheaply they 
could maintain them. Hence God remonstrated 



THE NEW SONG. 151 

thus : "Ye brought the torn, and the lame, and 
the sick : thus ye brought an offering. Should 
I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? But 
cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock 
a male, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt 
thing : for I am a great King, saith the Lord of 
Hosts." Mai. i. 13. Ezekiel gives the same 
account of this lip-honour and money-loving: 
" With their mouth they show much love, but 
their heart goeth after their coveteousness." 
Ezek. xxxiii. 31. Thus one great cause of 
their hearts being far from God, whilst their 
lips honoured him, was the love of money. His 
service, as he enjoined it for his own honour, 
required both healthy sacrifices at the altar, and 
hearty free-will offerings at the treasury of his 
temple ; but they grudged the expense of both. 
Their own temporal interests lay nearer their 
hearts than his public honour ; but, as they did 
not deem it quite safe to do nothing for his cause ; 
they tried a compromise, and talked much, but 
gave little. 

" These things were written for our admoni- 
tion, on whom the ends of the world are come." 
And if a lame, torn, and sickly offering, or the 



152 DOXOLOGY OF 

cheapest sacrifice that could be purchased, was 
a base insult at the typical altar of atonement, 
however coupled with singing all the songs of 
Zion, how much more ungrateful it is to try how 
little will suffice as an offering at the high altar 
of the cross ! That altar sanctifies indeed both 
the giver and the gift, however poor either may 
be, if they are only honest and cheerful. It is 
not the amount, but the proportion of what is 
given for his honour, that God looks to. He 
would reckon it no honour, but indeed an insult, 
to receive a gift out of money which man had 
any debUclaim upon, or out of an income inade- 
quate to the real wants of a family. God "hates 
robbery for burnt-offering." Mites are millions 
in his estimation, when a mite is all that can be 
honestly or prudently cast into his treasury. 
He is however jealous about the proportion and 
spirit in which we honour him ; and we ought 
to be so too. 

In the present day, it is peculiarly necessary 
to settle the general question, What can I really 
afford " to do for the honour of my God and 
Saviour. So many particular claims come before 
us, one by one, and at separate times, that we 



THE NEW SONG. 153 

can hardly tell whether we be giving too much 
or too little, until this question is fairly settled. 
For on the one hand, we give so often, that the 
amount may seem to us greater than it really 
is ; and on the other hand, although we do not 
miss our mites whilst they are given from time 
to time, yet their gross amount at the end of 
the year may be more than we could afford. 
And it is really more, if we leave any proper 
debt to man unpaid, or not in a fair way of being 
honestly met. It therefore becomes, yea be- 
hooves us, to unite with singing, " Honour unto 
God and the Lamb," a conscientious calculation 
of what we can give to honour them, " with our 
substance, and with the first-fruits of all our in- 
crease." Now, the New Testament form of 
all this old commandment is, " Upon the first 
day of the week let every one of you lay by 
him in store, as God hath prospered him." 
1 Cor. xvi. 2. Thus wherever Providence has 
given nothing beyond the bare necessaries of 
life, grace calls for no laying out or laying by 
at that time for the cause of God. When a 
Christian can do nothing for God in the way of 
giving, without injuring his family or his neigh- 
o 



154 DOXOLOGY OF 

bour, he has no occasion to be afraid or ashamed 
on that account, to appropriate the full comfort 
of the New Song unto himself. He needs it all, 
when thus low ; and he is welcome to it all, in 
his low estate. When God however prospers us 
much, or so much that we are above want, then 
grace does call for a liberality proportionate to 
the bounty of Providence. And according to 
this rule, we shall have occasion to say, at one 
time, " For brass, I will bring silver ;" and at 
another time, "For silver, I will bring gold ;" 
and at another it may be equally our duty to 
reverse this ascending scale, and to say, " For 
gold, I must bring only silver;" or, "For silver, 
I must bring only brass." For the honour of 
God being the final object, the descending scale, 
when thus conscientious, is as honourable in his 
estimation as the ascending scale of free-will 
offerings. When however we really can afford 
to sing the New Song to a golden harp, a silver 
harp should not be seen in our hands. There 
might be more harps of gold around the cross, 
when all who sing, " Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain for us," are glorying in the cross. Sil- 
ver harps make indeed good practical music in 



THE NEW SONG. 155 

the grand chorus of this Doxology, when they 
join it often and regularly ; but the New Song 
will not, cannot spread fast nor far, until the 
wealthy "thousands of Israel" drop them, and 
say, " For silver, 1 will bring gold." Your gold 
will rust in spite of you, if you hold back any 
that you can really spare : for all you can spare 
is now wanted. 

The third note of the Doxology is, " Glory 
unto God and the Lamb." And this also must 
be practical, as well as cordial. No words nor 
feelings, however good or glowing, can be a 
substitute for glorifying actions. All who are 
redeemed, or hope to be redeemed by the pre- 
cious blood of Christ, must glorify God with their 
bodies, as well as with their spirits ; by their 
practice, as well as by their faith. 

This is no hardship, and therefore we are not 
in a right spirit when we think it one. A really 
right spirit before God, would try to break away 
from its wrong tendencies, exclaiming in the face 
of all temptation and custom, " Who would not 
glorify thee, thou King of saints, for thou only 
art holy !" I am but too fully aware that all this 
is not easy. There are however harder tasks 



156 DOXOLOGY OF 

than self-denial or self-control. When God 
arises to punish for, and to purify from unholy- 
habits or tempers, the furnace of such sanctifi- 
cation is often as dark as it is hot. The chastened 
child cannot see a father's heart, nor recognise 
a paternal hand in the fiery trial of faith ; his 
faith becomes so weak, or what is the same 
thing, he finds it so difficult to believe for him- 
self, when all things seem against him. Then, 
however willing or able to glorify God and the 
Lamb by his life and conversation, he is almost 
afraid to try lest his services should be rejected, 
as too late or too reluctant to be accepted. 

If you understand this hint, you will feel at 
once the tremendous import and emphasis of 
that solemn warning, — " Give glory to the Lord 
your God, before he cause darkness, and before 
your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and 
while ye look for light, he turn into the shadow 
of death, and make it gross darkness." This — 
God will do, in the case of all his children who 
do not try to glorify him, and especially in the 
case of professing parents who take no effective 
nor systematic measures to train up their off- 
spring in the nurture and admonition of the 



THE NEW SONG. 157 

Lord. God will bring them to their senses, by 
answering their prayers " with terrible things 
in righteousness." He has indeed forgiven such 
parents ; but he has taken " vengeance on the 
inventions" by which they long evaded parental 
duty, and brought them to it by whips of scor- 
pions. 

I am not pleading for too much, whilst thus 
enforcing the duty of glorifying God by break- 
ing through sloth and shame and selfishness, in 
order to be useful in our families and relative 
circles. If we do nothing for souls there, we 
can expect nothing : and who is prepared to 
hazard the consequences of seeing some cut off, 
for whom they are responsible to God, and 
through eternity can never forget ? Parents ! 
have mercy on your children, if ye have any 
mercy upon yourselves. Relatives ! save your- 
selves from " blood-guiltiness," if you would be 
saved by the blood of the Lamb. Neighbours ! 
say not, " Am I my brother's keeper ?" if you 
would be kept from the curse of being unpro- 
fitable servants. By all means, sing " Glory 
be unto God and the Lamb ;" but at the same 
time, do something to glorify them, if you would 
p2 



158 DOXOLOGY OF 

have their presence with your own soul in life 
or death. 

Besides : only consider for what this duty is 
usually neglected ? For nothing that will bear 
to be told at the bar of God. Yea, the indul- 
gence, the sloth, or the worldliness which set 
the duty aside, may themselves prove fatal to 
life, health, or reason. For why should Provi- 
dence keep watch and ward, or indeed care any 
thing about the temporal welfare of those, who 
care nothing about the eternal welfare of others ? 
Where is grace promised either to keep or cheer 
the hearts of those, who take no interest in the 
glory of God ? O be assured, that the time is 
gone past in the church for ever, when it was 
safe or sufficient to keep up the New Song as 
doctrine and devotion. The worthiness of the 
Lamb must be spread now, at home and abroad, 
or not be enjoyed in the closet or the sanctuary. 
The New Song has fallen now on new times. 
Not that redemption is less the free gift of God 
now, nor that the redeemed are brought under 
any directly new obligation : we are only brought 
back to more of primitive times, than our imme- 
diate fathers enjoyed. Providence has again 



THE NEW SONG. 159 

thrown open the world to the chariots of salva- 
tion, as when they had their first highway over 
the three continents. Our fathers had enough 
to do in their time, to rescue and keep the ark 
of the covenant out of the hands of the Popish 
and Socinian Philistines. It cost them both 
blood and treasure to preserve the truth as it is 
in Jesus. Now however the ark is safe, and 
the world open ; and these new times call for 
new, or a renewal of the original efforts, to bear 
it in triumph around all the seats of idolatry, 
and into all the scenes of ignorance and vice. 

And what is expense ? It is here as in every 
thing else a mere thing of proportion. What 
the spread of the gospel will cost, is sure to be 
taken from us in judgment, if it be not given by 
us in mercy. God can enlarge or limit our 
means, as he chooses. What have the great 
body of merchants and ship-owners gained during 
this winter ? As a body, they have never done 
any thing effectual for the religious or moral 
improvement of seamen : and, in a few months, 
they have lost more money than would have 
been requisite to furnish all their ships and har- 
bours with adequate means of grace. Thus, 



160 DOXOLOGY OF 

God settles all ill-kept accounts with the claims 
of his glory. 

The fourth note of the Doxology is what 
might be expected, " Power unto God and the 
Lamb." Now we can with no good face sing 
or pray, that their power may extend over 
others, if we ourselves do not submit to it. If I 
really desire to see Divine power subduing the 
hearts and habits of others, I must in consistency 
bow to it myself. I cannot help on its sway in 
the world, if I hold back my own character, or 
spirit, from its authority. What " power" then 
do we practically ascribe to God, in connexion 
with our hope of redemption ? Have we given 
him power over our habits and tempers 1 Do 
we allow any known sin to stand out against 
his authority ? Is there any known duty we do 
not yield to him ? I do not of course mean that 
an entire actual subjection to Divine power is 
essential to an actual interest in the Divine fa- 
vour. It is not soon nor perhaps ever entirely 
in this world, that all power is practically given 
to God. There will be some resistance to his 
will, whilst there is any corruption in the heart. 
But, voluntary, deliberate or allowed resistance, 



THE NEW SONG. 161 

there must not be, cannot be, if we have washed 
our robes in the blood of the Lamb. We can- 
not imagine that a sin still indulged is truly par- 
doned ; nor that the sanctions of a positive duty- 
still neglected are not in force against us. All 
such things must, until we set ourselves to sub- 
mit to the power of God, rise up to darken our 
hopes, and keep our hearts upon the rack of 
suspense. We cannot sing the New Song 

" With an unwavering tongue," 

until with unflinching honesty, we make war 
against all the lusts of the flesh and the mind. 
When however that warfare is carrying on in 
good earnest, and whilst we are not defeated by 
not trying or wishing to conquer, it is not every 
defeat, nor any defeat that should shut our lips. 
Let us pray over the New Song, when we are 
afraid to sing it. And especially, let us bend all 
our prayers and watchfulness to bring our easily 
besetting sin daily under all the checks of Di- 
vine power. 



162 



No. IX- 

PERPETUITY OF THE NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 

It should never be forgotten, whilst studying 
the New Song, that all who sing it in heaven 
have for ever before them, in the midst of the 
throne, the Saviour himself, and all that he is 
doing for them, and for the church on earth." 
They are never silent, because he is never un- 
employed nor uninterested. Their harps are 
never laid aside because he never lays down his 
censer nor his sceptre. Because he ever liveth 
to intercede, they ever love to sing. His minis- 
try in heaven should therefore be deeply and 
devoutly studied and vividly realized, by all who 
would understand the spirit and perpetuity of 
the New Song. Now to those who are familiar 
wdth the life of Christ as recorded in the gospel, 
I need hardly say, that his ministry upon earth 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 163 

was distinguished by diligence and fidelity ; by 
tenderness and patience ; by zeal and energy. 
Whether the Saviour's pulpit was on a moun- 
tain or in the temple ; in a ship or in a syna- 
gogue, he was equally intent upon doing good, 
and equally intense in his solicitude to win 
souls. His whole heart was in his work ; and, 
therefore at the well of Samaria, he was as 
energetic in preaching to one woman, as when 
surrounded by the thousands of Israel in the 
wilderness, or in the streets of Jerusalem. No 
obloquy nor ignominy ; neither coldness nor 
contempt could weaken, wean or weary him in 
his ministry upon earth. He persisted in spite 
of calumny, and persevered in the midst of op. 
position and disappointment. Neither infuriated 
mobs nor captious individuals could divert him 
from his ministerial work : but the Sun of 
Righteousness, like the natural sun, held on his 
way, dispensing light and warmth whether no- 
ticed or unnoticed. " His meat and his drink 
was to do the will of Him who sent him ;" and 
he did it fully, whether welcomed or derided. 
That his derisions and reproach during his min- 
istry were great and provoking, I need not in- 



164 



PERPETUITY OF THE 



form you— you have marked both, and won- 
dered how he bore either so long and so meekly. 
That wonder is however explained, if not 
lessened, by knowing that his cold and unkind 
reception as a minister was part of his humili- 
ation as Mediator. He came to " his own," 
aware that they would not receive him. He 
laid his account with rejection upon the earth : 
but when he ascended far above all heavens, and 
took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty 
on high, was it to be expected that he would 
resume his ministry then, or that he would carry 
it on in the same spirit ? It is not with any in- 
tention of answering this question in the nega- 
tive, that I put it in this connexion. I know, 
and rejoice to know, that the Saviour is as much 
a minister now that he is in heaven, as he was 
while on earth. But while I believe this and 
boast of it, I wish you and myself to be feelingly 
alive to the wonders of the fact. I am anxious 
that the interesting truth should have the force 
of truth upon our hearts. Now, when it is un- 
derstood that the Saviour is still a minister, 
even in heaven, it is no easy matter to believe 
it. I mean, that it requires as great an effort 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 165 

or faith to credit this, as to believe with the heart 
the great mystery of godliness : for his ever 
living to intercede, although not a mystery, is 
a wonder of the same kind as his becoming in- 
carnate to die. You will be sensible of this, 'if 
you consider the place in which his ministry is 
carried on. That place is the sanctuary or the 
true tabernacle that the Lord pitched; which is 
heaven. Hence it is said, he is set on the right 
hand of the throne of the Majesty in the hea- 
vens. Now that is a seat of the highest rank 
and honour. Accordingly it is said, " God hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name 
above every name." " He hath set him at his 
own right hand in heavenly places, far above 
all principality and power, and might and do- 
minion." On hearing this, our thoughts naturally 
revert to his lowly condition whilst on earth : 
then, his chief seat was a rock on the mount, and 
his only voluntary and avowed subjects a few 
illiterate fishermen and obscure women. What a 
contrast to this, is the eternal throne of the uni- 
verse with the subjection of all the armies of 
heaven to him ! But will not this height beget 

"high thoughts," 
Q 



166 PERPETUITY OF THE 

and divert his mind from the inferior concerns 
of man ? Will he not think us beneath his no- 
tice, now that he is exalted so high ? This is the 
difficulty, suggested by his exaltation ; and it 
increases, when you consider his supreme au- 
thority on the throne. 

The right hand of Majesty is the seat of uni- 
versal authority. Accordingly, not only all 
beings are subject to Christ, but all power is in 
his hands. He not only sits upon the throne, 
but sways the sceptre over all worlds. He can 
therefore crush his enemies at any moment, and 
avenge himself upon his adversaries. And as 
even his followers were once his foes and are 
still prone to depart from him, will he not crush 
them too ? Or if that be unlikely, is it likely he 
will employ his power in sustaining and consoling 
a few weak and imperfect adherents ? The dif- 
ficulty increases still farther, when you consider 
his nearness to the Father. 

I mean nearness of pi ace. Christ is at his " right 
hand ;" and therefore has for ever present to his 
view, the unveiled glories of the Father. He sees 
him " as he is," in all the blaze of infinite excel- 
lence—in all the bloom of immortal glory. And 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 167 

will he— can he turn away for a moment from 
gazing on that " great sight," to look upon any 
creature however lovely 1 Compared with that 
sight — cherubim and seraphim, although glow- 
ing in the beauty of holiness, are unworthy of 
notice : how much more unworthy are we ! In 
looking upon the best of us, the Saviour must 
see deformity, defilement, and imperfection : 
must see faults and failures which cannot but 
grieve and offend his holy soul. And will he — 
can he look away from infinite perfection to 
notice us ? Will he deny himself the pleasure 
of gazing on the light of his Father's counte- 
nance, to mark either the care or the serious- 
ness which may sit on our countenance ? The 
difficulty of believing this increases still, when 
you reflect upon the intimate and interesting 
communion which he enjoys with the Majesty 
on high. He is not only near to the Father but 
in close fellowship with him ; enjoying a full 
interchange of thoughts, feelings and counsels. 
To the Son, the Eternal Mind is open in all its 
secrets, in all its purposes, in all its powers. He 
is in the bosom of the Father : and what a 
scene of order, grandeur and interest, must be 



168 PERPETUITY OF THE 

unfolded there, during their mutual fellowship ! 
And will he — can he turn from all this, in any 
measure to cultivate communion with us ; with 
our cares, fears, sufferings, and temptations ? 
Can he waste a thought even upon the love of 
man, enjoying as he does the entire confidence, 
the intense love, the eternal smiles of God. 

Thus you perceive, even from these brief 
hints, that there is far more implied in the fami- 
liar fact of the Saviour's intercession in heaven, 
than is usually remembered or felt. Of course, 
it is not my object to dispute the fact itself, nor 
to create difficulties which would defeat the use- 
fulness of it. No indeed : my simple design is 
to lift your thoughts in thrilling wonder and 
gratitude to the height of it ; to associate clear 
ideas with common words; until we are fully 
aware of what we mean, when we speak of 
Christ interceding for us upon the throne. 

I do not admire nor envy their faith on this 
subject, who find no difficulty in believing it. 
They must know little of the ministry of Christ 
in heaven, and have never grappled with its 
amazing wonders, if they have not been stag- 
gered by them. I do not mean staggered by 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 169 

infidel doubts ; but thrown into such solemn 
pauses of the mind, as he felt who exclaimed, 
"And will God in very deed dwell with man 
upon the earth ! The heaven of heavens can- 
not contain thee, — how much less this house 
which I have built ?" This was not unbelief; 
but faith overwhelmed by the overpowering 
grandeur of its objects. And here is a grander 
object still: — the eternal Son of God seated 
upon the throne of the universe, serving as a 
minister ; ever living amidst the splendours and 
felicities of Godhead, and yet ever living to in- 
tercede for us ! Effort, repeated effort is re- 
quired to realize this fact, in the vividness of 
understanding, and the vigour of faith. 

Having thus endeavoured to prepare you for 
appreciating duly the condescension of the Sa- 
viour in being still a minister, I now solicit your 
attention to the general character of that medi- 
atorial ministry which he exercises in heaven. 

It is a ministry of minute observation. For 
in order to conduct it with effect, the Saviour 
has to notice the several conditions, characters 
and cases of all who pray in his name, and 
plead the merits of his blood. He has to search 
q2 



170 PERPETUITY OF THE 

every heart, and to mark the exact frame of 
every mind in all his churches. He has to ex- 
amine all the varieties of trials, temptations and 
discouragements which exercise all his people. 
This at the very least is necessary, in order to 
present the prayers of each saint ; to take up 
the cause of each ; to regulate the lot of each ; 
and in order to bestow grace to help, according 
to their several and diversified wants. His eye 
is therefore upon all who fear him. It is upon 
faithful ministers, to mark what direction and 
strength they need in " rightly dividing" the 
word of life. It is upon godly parents, to notice 
what discretion and encouragement they need, 
in bringing up their children in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord. It is upon the lambs 
of his flock, to mark how they thrive in the 
green pastures of his church. It is upon the 
poor and afflicted amongst his people, to ascer- 
tain how they bear up, and what grace they 
require to help in time of need. It is upon his 
aged disciples, to notice the progress and pres- 
sure of their infirmities. It is upon his dying 
saints, to sustain them in the valley of the shadow 
of death. It is upon the widows and orphans 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 171 

of departed saints, to observe their lonely and 
trying lot. It is in all the earth, beholding the 
evil and the good. This is one part of the Sa- 
viour's daily ministry : and whether you con- 
sider the vast and varied extent of this observa- 
tion, or connect it with the fact, that God in all 
the glory of his perfections is for ever before his 
eye, you must be sensible that such condescend- 
ing notice passeth knowledge ; and must see how 
such love prolongs the New Song. 

It is also a ministry of tender sympathy and 
compassion. The Saviour's eye affects his 
heart ; for he is more than an attentive spectator 
of human affairs. He is afflicted in all the af- 
flictions of his people, and touched with the feel- 
ing of their infirmities. In surveying the scene 
of their trials and temptations, he allows himself 
to remember that " He was in all points tempted 
as they are." The sighs, tears and unutterable 
groanings of the penitent and depressed, awaken 
the recollection of his own soui-exercise on 
earth. And that he might ever feel keenly for 
human woes, he wears continually human na- 
ture, and sits upon the throne in the very body 
which once ached, fainted and died. How he 



172 PERPETUITY OF THE 

combines in himself personal independence with 
such relative sympathy, or how perfect happi- 
ness and fellow-feeling with the disconsolate 
harmonize in his mind, we cannot explain ; but 
we are expressly assured, that even upon the 
eternal throne, he cherishes all the melting emo- 
tions of sympathy and compassion. All heaven 
see this great sight, and sing for ever, Worthy 
is the Lamb ! 

It is a ministry of actual intercession. As the 
Saviour notices and feels every case, so he 
pleads the cause of all his people ; appearing in 
the presence of God for them, as their surety, 
advocate and representative. In this part of 
his mediatorial work, he follows up closely and 
constantly, the ministry of the Eternal Spirit. 
The moment a sinner is brought to believe with 
the heart unto righteousness, the Saviour takes 
up his cause as his own, claims that sinner's 
justification and brings him off acquitted. Nor 
does his intercession end here ; all who believe 
become a praying people, who call upon God 
while they live. Their wants and weakness 
bring them often to the throne of grace. Their 
daily sins and short comings bring them daily to 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 173 

their knees. And as even their prayers could 
not be accepted on their own account, the Sa- 
viour has to present them on his own censer of 
incense. Thus he has to listen unto the prayers 
of all saints ; and not only to listen, but also to 
discriminate, and to judge what petitions should 
or should not be presented : to select such as 
are agreeable to the Divine will, and to obtain 
pardon for those askings which are " amiss." 
And then this part of his ministry is perpetual : 
he ever lives to intercede, and always follows 
up the prayers of his people, whether stated or 
occasional, whether uttered in words or breathed 
in silent ejaculation : for as there are not stated 
times at which only he is their Advocate, his ear 
must be for ever open to their cry. Neither his 
ear nor his heart ever shuts against the voice 
of fervent supplication. Should I weary you 
by this minuteness, I will forgive any impatience 
towards myself, if you will only think, how 
wonderful the Saviour's patience must be in not 
wearying of such a ministry as this : for how- 
ever minute I am, I cannot touch a thousandth 
part of its extent or variety. Heaven can hardly 
embrace it all in the New Song. 



174 PERPETUITY OF THE 

It is a ministry of actual benevolence. He 
notices, intercedes and feels for his people, that 
he may supply all their wants, according to his 
riches in glory. He would not present their 
prayers, if answers could not be given ; and as 
all things necessary for life and godliness are 
given, of course he has to communicate the 
blessings from his own fulness : and what a va- 
riety and continuance of engagements, this dis- 
tribution must create for him ! Here for ever, 
are the blind to be enlightened, and the per- 
plexed to be guided: here for ever, the fallen 
are to be raised, and the weak to be strength- 
ened ; here for ever, the timid are to be en- 
couraged, and the trembling to be soothed : 
here for ever, the tempted are to be succoured, 
and the afflicted to be sustained. Thus wide, 
unbounded and varied is the field of his minis- 
terial labour. In fact, there is no' end to the 
duties of his ministry. Both the lot and the 
character of his flock furnish occasion for per- 
petual interference and effort on his part : for 
as no spiritual blessings come by chance, but 
are all in his hands, his hands must be for ever 
full of labour as well as of power. 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 175 

• It is a ministry of special providential manage- 
ment. He has to order and adapt the lot of 
each believer to his peculiar character; so that 
all his people may be kept in that precise con- 
dition which is best for their souls. He has to 
judge, when changes and trials are necessary 
in their lot, and to take measures for bringing 
them about in the best way. He has to notice 
when trials have produced the desired effect, and 
to make arrangements for removing them. He 
has not only to prepare the furnace in which he 
purifies his saints, but also to sit by it, preventing 
from being consumed every thing but the dross 
of their character. And beside all this, he has 
for ever to superintend and direct the general 
interests of his church ; by raising up a succes- 
sion of faithful ministers, by overthrowing the 
obstacles which impede the spread of the gospel, 
by opening new doors of entrance into the hea- 
then world, and by overruling all national events 
for the advancement of his own cause. All 
creatures, all things in heaven, earth and hell, 
he has power to guide and govern, along the 
line of the eternal purposes, and of the ancient 
prophecies. 



176 PERPETUITY OF THE 

I may, I suppose, stop now : by this time you 
are convinced, that his' high office is no sine- 
cure ; and that if the Saviour's sufferings ended 
when he sat down at the right hand of God, his 
labours were only beginning. This then is the 
lively and everlasting interest, which the Sa- 
viour himself takes in the fruits of his own atone- 
ment. Its application and triumphs on earth 
absorb him in heaven. Well therefore, may 
that which entrances and fixes his infinite mind 
engross and enrapture for ever all the armies 
of heaven. No wonder they rest not day or 
night in adoring the Lamb slain, seeing the 
Lamb himself never wearies in watching over 
those for whom he was slain. 

Bring before your minds again, the ideas sug- 
gested by the hints thrown out upon the general 
character of the Saviour's ministry ; and amongst 
other things which occurred to your thoughts, 
was the fact, that for the effective exercise of 
such a ministry, the minister of the true taber- 
nacle must be truly God. Such universal ob- 
servation could not be carried on by a finite 
being ; nor such sympathy felt, nor such influ- 
ence exerted, nor such power managed, by any 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 177 

created nature. The mere height of such ex- 
altation, as the right hand of the Majesty on 
high, would either overpower a finite mind, or 
so fascinate it, that it could think of nothing else : 
attend to nothing else. Such a variety of en- 
gagements, and each so important, would con- 
fuse and distract the highest archangel. Indeed, 
were the care and labour portioned out amongst 
all the armies of heaven, even they would be in- 
adequate to the duties of such a ministry. Hear- 
ing all saints, feeling for all, helping all, guiding 
all, guarding all, is a task to which infinite wisdom 
and universal power alone are equal. I appeal 
to your common sense : is not supreme Divinity 
essential to such a ministry as the Saviour car- 
ries on ? The exercise of it implies omniscience 
as the first requisite, and omnipotence for the 
second : qualities incommunicable from their 
very nature. 

Another idea suggested by the place and cha- 
racter of the Saviour's ministry is, that nothing 
but equality with the Father will account for 
the Son being able to maintain communion with 
the Father, and to discharge the duties of his 
priesthood at the same time. The very mo- 
il 



178 PERPETUITY OF THE 

raent he sat down at the right hand of the Ma- 
jesty on high, he entered on all the duties of 
his ministry ; what no being could have done, 
to whom the place or the work was new. Such 
nearness to new and ineffable glory must have 
absorbed all his attention for ages, had he been 
a stranger. to it until then. Had that been his 
first appearance upon the throne, or his first 
intercourse with unveiled Deity, it is utterly 
inconceivable that he could attend to any thing 
else. A finite nature, if not overpowered by 
the open vision of infinite glory, must have been 
wholly taken up in admiring and adoring it. 
And as God would always be increasingly inte- 
resting to such a being, no length of time could 
lessen the first effects of sitting down with him 
upon the throne. But the Saviour sat down 
there with perfect composure from the first ; 
and continued to sit there, without ever being 
diverted from his ministry by the presence of 
God ; or from the enjoyment of God by his 
ministry. Why ? The glories of the Father . 
were neither new nor incomprehensible to him : 
he had been in his bosom from eternity ; and 
therefore returned to it, as to his familiar home 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 179 

and native element. He has all Divine per- 
fections in himself; and therefore sits at the 
right hand of Majesty, with equal composure 
and activity. 

The truth of these remarks, as they bear 
upon the Divinity of the Saviour, may be con- 
firmed by a proof which lies more upon the 
very surface of the eternal throne. By pla- 
cing his Son there, and making him partake of 
all its honours, the Father has left nothing to 
distinguish himself from the Son, except name 
and office. He occupies no higher place, and 
receives no higher worship, than the Son. 
Now, an equal place on the eternal throne im- 
plies equal persons : joint honours in heaven 
imply a joint title and nature. If therefore 
before his ascension, any darkness rested upon 
the declaration, " 1 and my Father are one ;" 
when he ascended, it disappeared entirely, 
because he took his seat and share, where 
created beings never sat ; for " unto which of 
the angels said God at any time, Sit thou at 
my right-hand?" 

On this subject, I am fonder of appealing to 
common sense than to critical skill : and here 



180 PERPETUITY OF THE 

I do so with triumph ; for is it not self-evident, 
that if the Son were inferior to the Father in 
nature, it would appear to a certainty in heaven, 
where the Father appears in all his glory ? 
But what is the fact? The Son enjoys the 
same rank and reverence in heaven ; and that 
so entirely, that there is literally nothing but 
name and office to distinguish them. That throne 
which is the symbol of universal supremacy- is 
the common seat of both ; and those songs, 
which celebrate Godhead are addressed equally 
to God and the Lamb. I therefore ask, what 
is there in heaven to mark inequality between 
the Father and the Son? Whoever answers 
from the Bible, must say, " There is nothing." 
But while I thus pause to bring proofs of the 
Saviour's Godhead out of his ministry, I must 
pause too, to bring out of it proofs of the excel- 
lence and efficacy of his atonement ! Now, 
he took his seat upon the throne, in the very 
capacity he hung upon the cross ; — as a Medi- 
ator ! Accordingly, he appears there as " the 
Lamb slain!" But this would not be, had his 
atonement been imperfect ; for I pray you mark, 
he is in the " midst of that throne" from which 



NEW SONG EXPLAINED. 181 

the eternal law issued, and by which it is sus- 
tained : in the midst of that throne, of which 
"justice and judgment are the habitation ;" cir- 
cumstances which would prevent the sitting 
down of any mediator who had not fully satisfied 
both law and justice. But on that throne he rests, 
as the mercy-seat did on the ark of the cove- 
nant ; his bow of peace is around it, as the cloud 
of glory was above the mercy-seat ; and before 
him righteousness and peace embrace like the 
blended cherubim upon the ark. Thus upon 
the very throne, the thunders of which should 
burst against me, I see a reigning Saviour ; a 
reconciling God ; a regenerating Spirit ; a free 
and sure refuge ! Now I can explain to myself 
both his ability and his willingness for that min- 
istry which he exercises in heaven. He is God, 
and therefore equal to all its duties. He is the 
Lamb that was slain, and therefore fond of all 
its duties ; for although infinitely wonderful, it 
is not unnatural that he should live for those he 
so loved as to die for. He that poured out his soul 
unto death for his people, is not unlikely to pour 
out all the fulness of his Godhead and humanity 
in acts of sympathy, kindness and protection. 
r2 



182 PERPETUITY OF THE 

These realizing remembrances of the Sa- 
viour's place and employment in heaven will 
explain to you still further, the New Song itself, 
and especially its perpetuity. No wonder that 
all in heaven serve him "day and night without 
weariness," seeing He never slumbers nor 
sleeps. Well may they ever live to sing, seeing 
he ever liveth to intercede ! 

How could they weary of what is for ever 
new and interesting to Emanuel himself? Thus 
their song is not more constant than his inter- 
cession. Another explanation of its perpetuity 
may be found, if wanted, in the equally sublime 
fact, that the Father never wearies in hearing 
or answering the prayers which that intercession 
sanctifies. He too " rests in his love" to Re- 
demption and the Redeemer. His benevolence 
finds its chief field ; his complacency its grand 
centre ; his glory its most cherished tribute, in 
the triumphs of the cross. 

And the Eternal Spirit ! What an absorbing 
interest He takes in glorifying Christ as the 
Lamb slain. He too never wearies of carrying 
on by power, that redemption which the Son 
obtained by price. His work, although much 



NEW SONS EXPLAINED. 188 

the same on all hearts, in all ages, presents 
no sameness to him, that at all lessens his de- 
votedness to it or his delight in it. Thus if all 
around the throne never weary, all upon the 
throne for ever live, to conduct redemption as 
their highest glory and joy. 



184 



No. X. 

RELATIVE APPEALS OF THE NEW SONG. 

" Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify 
thy name ? for thou only art holy. All nations 
shall come and worship before thee." This is 
the question asked,— the hope expressed by 
those who stand on " the sea of glass," singing 
before the throne, the song of the Lamb. Having 
seen God as he is,— and heaven as it is; and 
remembering the inseparable connexion between 
devotion and inheriting the kingdom of God, 
the redeemed in glory naturally ask, " Who 
would not fear and glorify thy name ?" This is 
a question which even devotional men on earth 
are constrained to utter in the fulness of their 
hearts, when in the closet, the family, or the 
sanctuary, their souls are happy in prayer and 
cheered by communion with God. Then the 



RELATIVE APPEALS OF THE NEW SONG. 185 

happiness is so great, the enjoyment so exquisite, 
the exercise so soothing, that for the time, they 
can hardly conceive how any one should be 
averse to prayer, or reluctant to seek the Divine 
favour. " Who would not fear thee, O Lord ?" 
is the language of the Christian, when feeling 
the benefit and blessedness of worshipping his 
God. He thinks that if he could only tell his 
enjoyment, all who heard of it would hasten to 
the throne of grace, to obtain similar happiness. 
Thus David, when satisfied and cheered with 
the love of God, thought that it must have 
equal charms for all men. " How excellent is 
thy loving-kindness, O God ! therefore the chil- 
dren of men put their trust under the shadow 
of thy wings." That loving-kindness was so 
excellent, that the good man could not conceive 
how any man should not be equally pleased 
with it. 

Now, if the views and experience of it on 
earth have this tendency, and naturally pro- 
duce this temper, how much more must hea- 
venly views and experience increase this temper 
of mind. They do. Amazed and enraptured by 
the unveiled glories of Jehovah on the throne ; 



186 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

by the radiant scenes and perfect bliss of Eter- 
nity ; and swallowed up in the enjoyments of 
heaven, the redeemed can hardly imagine that 
there should be a prayerless or careless person 
on earth. " Who would not fear thee, O Lord I" 
Is their joint exclamation : and like David, their 
joint hope is, " All nations shall come and wor- 
ship before thee." 

Such being the opinion and hope of the saints 
in glory in reference to all men, we may fairly, 
because naturally suppose that they feel all this 
most deeply in reference to their own relatives 
and friends, whom they left on earth. The re- 
collection of them is of course the most vivid 
and tender of all the earthly remembrances 
which the saints cherish in heaven. Parting 
with parents, or partner, or children, was the 
last and the hardest struggle of their parting 
spirit. And as there is no reason, nor the shadow 
of a reason, to suspect that glorified spirits for- 
get those who were near and dear on earth, it 
is only natural and proper to suppose that on 
these endeared relatives, their thoughts are 
chiefly fixed, when charmed themselves by the 
glories of God, they exclaim. " Who would not 



THE NEW SONG. 187 

fear thee ? My parent, my partner, my children 
will not surely refuse. All my family will come 
and worship before thee." 

That such hopes are cherished in heaven by 
the spirits of just men made perfect, is more 
than probable : for if they remember those they 
left behind, it would not be perfection of charac- 
ter to feel indifferent about them ; and to feel 
concerned and yet have no hope, is incompati- 
ble with perfect enjoyment : at least, so long as 
their relatives are in "the place of hope:" for 
while there, it would be wrong not to hope the 
best. On this ground therefore, I solemnly 
assume the sublime and sweet idea, that those 
endeared spirits, whom our hopes realize as 
standing on the sea of glass, singing the New 
Song, and triumphing in the presence of God, 
often say in reference to us — " Who shall not 
fear thee, O Lord ? Surely my father, my mo- 
ther will ; surely my husband, my wife will ; 
surely my son, my daughter will ; surely my 
brother, my sister will. All of these must surely 
come and worship before thee." Yes, our glo- 
rified friends, as they look on God as he is, 
glorious in holiness and rich in mercy unto all 



188 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

that call on him, cannot conceive that we should 
neglect or delay to seek an interest in his favour. 
As they look on the Lamb slain, altogether 
lovely and able to save to the very uttermost, 
they cannot conceive how we should not lay 
hold on him for eternal life, and cleave to him 
during this life. As they look to the Holy 
Spirit, in all his converting and sanctifying 
power, they cannot imagine how we should re- 
sist or grieve him. Wherever they look in 
heaven, crowns of glory and palms of victory,— 
thrones of light and mansions of rest,— scenes 
of immortal beauty and society of immaculate 
loveliness, compel the exclamation, " Who would 
not fear thee, O Lord ? 

In ascribing this emotion to perfect spirits, I 
put it on the solid ground that it would argue 
imperfection not to feel thus. I do not, be it 
understood, imagine them as reasoning upon 
the probability of the hopes they cherish, but 
upon the duty, the propriety and importance of 
our fearing their God, loving their Saviour, sub- 
mitting to their Sanctifier. And as these are 
known in their grace, and heaven in its glory 
by us, it is the very perfection of glorified 



THE NEW SONG. 189 

spirits to wish and hope, that God in Christ 
should be dear to all men, and especially to 
their own endeared families. 

The ground of my argument is, that the more 
any being knows and enjoys the grace and glory 
of the Divine character, the more he must feel 
the rational importance of fearing that God : 
the more he must wish all men to fear him. It 
is therefore directly from the sublime and in- 
spiring views which spirits have of God and the 
Lamb, of salvation and glory, that I conclude 
that they can think of nothing human, so much 
as of the duty and interest of men to embrace 
them ; for whatever a spirit in heaven may 
recollect of our excuses or reluctance in the 
matter, it is morally impossible in the presence 
of God, to hold then) otherwise than as trifling. 
We ourselves feel them to be so at times, and 
wonder why we should yield to them. And it 
is from an overpowering sense of the senseless- 
ness and sinfulness of all neglect and delay in 
religion, that saints and angels exclaim, " Who 
shall not fear thee, O Lord ?" 

I would not have the appeal I am about to 
make defeated or weakened by any suspicion 
s 



190 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

of its scriptural truth, or argumentative justice. 
It may be unusual, but it is not unscriptural, in 
the light it is now placed. If however any 
doubt of this remain, I remind you that even in 
hell family solicitude is felt. Luke xvi. 27, 28. 
If a reprobate spirit feel thus, need I say, that 
the spirits of just men made perfect cherish fond 
wishes and hopes in behalf of their father's 
house, and their brethren? And accordingly, 
they are represented by Paul as "a great cloud 
of witnesses," looking down from heaven upon 
our earthly pilgrimage. My point being thus 
established, I propose to consider the appeal as 
the language of holy astonishment on the part 
of glorified spirits. " Who shall not fear thee, 
O Lord ?" as if they had said, It is astonishing 
that any one should neglect to fear and glorify 
God! 

And it really is astonishing, however com- 
mon the neglect be ; we ourselves are amazed 
at it when we pause to reflect. Not all the 
bustle and cares of life can then hide from us 
the folly of neglecting godliness, it is so very 
glaring. We even see at times, that our ex- 
cuses for evading the claims of God, are in 



THE NEW SONG. 191 

fact reasons, strong reasons for immediately 
complying with them. And they are so. Have 
you much to do ? The more need you have of 
the hope of salvation to sweeten your labour. 
Have you much to think of? The more need 
you have of the Divine wisdom to direct your 
thoughts. Have you much to struggle with ? 
The more need you have of grace to strengthen 
and uphold you. Yes ; to none is the religion 
of the Bible more adapted, and to none should 
it be more endeared, than to those who have 
much to do and to suffer in the world. The hope 
of salvation through Christ connected with habits 
of piety is the very thing for them ; just what 
they need, in order to enable them to do and 
endure the will of God in their lot. Jt is there- 
fore truly astonishing, that all men, and espe- 
cially those who must work hard and bear 
much, should not fear and worship God. It is 
the height of folly to neglect this. They are 
their own enemies who neglect it : for, in doing 
so, they are throwing open their business to the 
frowns of Providence, their families to the curse 
of God, and their souls to the wrath to come. 
Now, if this be not astonishing infatuation, there 



192 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

is nothing amazing in human guilt or folly. But 
the truth is, we ourselves are shocked at our 
own infatuation, whenever it is brought fairly 
home to us ; and become ashamed even of the 
excuses which we have used longest, and pa- 
raded loudest. Something of this is felt now. 

Well therefore, may glorified spirits feel as- 
tonished at human neglect of Divine things, now 
that they see and enjoy eternal things in heaven. 
In God, they see nothing but inspiring and im- 
mortal reasons for all men fearing and serving 
him : in the Lamb, nothing but irresistible and 
captivating reasons for all men loving and fol- 
lowing him : in their celestial engagements, 
nothing but sublime motives for acquiring them 
on earth : in their perfect and perpetual enjoy- 
ments, nothing but glorious inducements to seek 
first the kingdom of heaven. No wonder 
therefore, if it be wonderful to them, that any 
man should be unaffected and undecided by 
that which fills all heaven with rapture and 
happiness. 

For granting that the glorified spirits of 
whom we are now thinking, and cannot help 
thinking of, have not forgotten their own con- 



THE NEW SONG. 193 

duct while on earth ; granting that they retain 
a distinct recollection of all the worldly excuses 
which at one time diverted them from salva- 
tion and the service of God ; do you not see, 
that exactly in proportion as they remember 
these excuses, they must despise them also, and 
be so ashamed of them, as not to allow them, 
in our case, to prevent astonishment on their 
part? You cannot imagine ibr a moment, that 
the dear spirit in glory, whom you fondly think 
is thinking of you, and hoping to welcome you 
to heaven ; you cannot imagine that spirit say- 
ing or thinking, that it will be no wonder if 
your trials, struggles and cares in life render 
religion, in your case, impossible. You cannot 
suppose that spirit making up its mind, not to 
expect you in heaven, because of what you 
have to do on earth. No ; you perceive at a 
glance, that, to the mind you are thinking of, 
all your trials must appear reasons why you 
should choose your God for his God, and his 
portion for your portion. Astonishment must 
therefore pervade the bosom of the blessed, if 
those they love and long for neglect the great 
salvation ; for they see, they feel its greatness 
s2 



194 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

filling all the soul ; expanding over all the 
range of immortality, and stretching, unbroken, 
through eternity. Seeing as they see, and en- 
joying as they enjoy, they must feel amazed if 
we are indifferent. 

Let it not be said in answer to this, that we 
cannot be expected to feel the worth of eternal 
things, as our glorified friends do. Of course, 
we cannot be so sensible as they are, either of 
the vanity of this world, or the value of the 
world to come. But that is not the question. 
The real question is, Can we learn these les- 
sons so as to become wise unto salvation ? 
Can we adopt those principles and habits which 
led our friends to glory ? Can we choose their 
foundation for our hopes and their religion for 
our law? This is the point. Now we have 
all the advantages which they enjoyed ; the 
same warrant, the same welcome, the same 
motives, to come to Christ and to cleave to him. 
And knowing this, and knowing too how they 
found grace to decide and keep them,— they 
must feel astonished, if we are not seeking grace 
as they did. 

O were the spirit yo\i love best to descend 



THE NEW SONG, 195 

from its mansion in glory to your house on 
earth, consternation would burst out upon the 
bloom of its immortality, if it found you spend- 
ing your leisure moments in pondering only on 
your cares; in speaking only of earthly things; 
in going through a mere form of religion ; or 
hurrying over prayer without heart or serious- 
ness. Yes, that spirit would say, " I am as- 
tonished, that you, so loved and longed for as 
you are ; that you, who think so often of me, 
should think so seldom and slightly of that Sa- 
viour to whom I owe all my happiness. Why 
do you not give your heart fully to him ? how 
can you resist his love and trifle with his blood? 
Had I done so, I should have been in hell at 
this moment and through eternity." Such is 
the appeal a glorified spirit would make to all 
men, and especially to the members of his own 
family. This leads me to consider the appeal 
as the language of fond solicitude, on the part 
of spirits in heaven — in behalf of those they 
have left on earth ; "Who shall not fear thee, 
O Lord ? all nations shall come and worship 
before thee." They cannot bear the painful 
idea, that any should not come. They wish all 



196 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

to come, and therefore hope that they will 
come. 

Do they then flatter themselves? it may be 
said ; do they not know better than expect any 
such general turning unto the Lord? If I were* 
not anxious to prevent the least evasion of the 
appeals I have made, I would not pause to an- 
swer this objection : but I wish them to be felt ; 
and therefore I start whatever objection is like- 
ly to occur to you. Now in ascribing fond hope 
and tender solicitude to glorified spirits, 1 do so 
in the very sense in which the prophets melted 
with tenderness and triumphed with hope, when 
they predicted the gathering of all nations to 
Christ. Were they flattering themselves ? Christ 
himself said, " And I, if I be lifted up, will draw 
all men unto me." Was he flattering himself? 
He knew whatever limitation is included in this 
language ; but that did not prevent him from 
expressing hope. And as to solicitude for 
souls, I have shown you that, even in hell. Be- 
sides, why should the blessed not cherish hope ? 
They themselves have been saved entirely by 
grace; and from all that they know of them- 
selves or of grace, they must be aware that 



THE NEW SONG. 197 

any one may be saved, on the same principle. 
Whatever they may know of the temper, the 
character, the habits, or the heart of those they 
long for, they must also know that the blood of 
Christ is effectual, and the grace of God free. 
it is therefore as creditable to their understand- 
ing as to their heart, to feel the deepest solici- 
tude on behalf of those they loved. The Sa- 
viour himself cherishes this fine emotion upon 
the throne ; and the joy which fills angelic bo- 
soms, when one sinner repents, is a proof that 
angels love and long for the repentance of sin- 
ners. Having thus mentioned the solicitude felt 
by the Saviour in behalf of sinners, it is only 
by doing violence to my own feelings of pro- 
priety, that I renew the appeal I have begun : 
for what are the claims, the recollections, or the 
wishes of the dearest spirit in glory, compared 
with the beseeching love of the Lamb slain ? 
What is bringing before you those you have 
lost, compared with beseeching you in Christ's 
stead to be reconciled unto God ? Nothing. 

" Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown Him Lord of all." 

And yet I am not doing wrong, while em- 



198 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

ploying the influence which the memory of the 
dead has over the living, as means of winning 
souls to Christ. It is perhaps unusual to make 
a full and free appeal to the heart, from this 
sacred and tender ground ; but just because it 
is so sacred and so tender, I venture upon it ; 
convinced that God has thus consecrated it, 
just that it might be occupied by his ministers, 
and made subservient to the great end of their 
ministry. Not that I would re-open the wounds of 
the heart, or give a new edge to the sense of be- 
reavement ; but that I would touch the heart 
where it is tenderest, and thus associate with its 
melting emotions, the grand truths of the Gospel. 
Now God has said, that " no man dieth for 
himself." There is a purpose beyond himself 
to answer by the death of a Christian. It is 
intended to make an impression upon others, 
either by warning them of their mortality, or 
by forming new links between their hearts 
and heaven. Well, if this be intended any 
where, of course it is chiefly so in the family 
from which a Christian is removed. There the 
impression should be most deep and abiding, 
because there the loss is most felt. 



THE NEW SONG. 199 

Now such losses we have all had to deplore : 
let us therefore try to turn them to spiritual ad- 
vantage, and thus to meet the design of God. 
We have reason to believe that the spirits 01 
our glorified relatives feel solicitous for our 
salvation ; and whatever else we feel, we de- 
sire to meet them in heaven, and to spend our 
eternity in their company. It is natural to 
wish this : it is impossible not to desire it. All 
the heart swells up to welcome the sweet hope. 
Oh that the heart yearned thus to welcome 
that' Saviour by whom alone the hope can be 
realized. But alas ! it does not. It shrinks 
back from him ; averse to his service, and cold 
to his salvation. Now this state of mind must 
be conquered ; must be changed ; and what so 
likely to check it, as pausing solemnly to ask, 
—How would the spirit who longs for me in 
heaven, look and feel, could that spirit see me 
trifling with the Saviour whom he loves su- 
premely; shunning the throne of grace, by 
which he rose to the throne of glory ; making 
little use of the means by which he obtained 
grace ; neglecting the duties by which he made 
his calling and election sure; indulging the 



200 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

tempers which he was most afraid of? Oh, he 
could not, she could not look on this without 
pain, without saying, "Ah ! my parent, my part- 
ner, my child, my brother, my sister ! this is not 
what I expected from you, after my death. I 
hoped better things of you when I was dying in 
your arms. Then I thought, from your tears 
and seriousness, that you had chosen my God 
as your God and portion for ever and ever. I 
saw that you would never forget me, and hoped 
that you would never forget the Saviour, who 
did so much for me. I saw that your only con- 
solation in giving me up, was your assurance 
that I was going to heaven ; and I flattered 
myself that on my account as well as your own, 
you would not neglect to seek first the kingdom 
of heaven. But you have not : you have sadly, 
sinfully, forgotten and neglected not me, but my 
God, my Saviour, my portion. Oh by your 
hopes of meeting me in glory ; by the horrors 
of eternal separation, do not trifle longer : re- 
main not undecided in principle or character I" 
Thus the spirit dearest to you in glory would 
plead and implore, were he or she allowed to 
address the undecided and delaying. 



THE NEW SONG. 201 

Having thus considered the appeal as the 
language of holy astonishment and tender soli- 
citude, I would now bring it under your notice, 
as the language of encouragement and commen- 
dation, to fear and glorify God. Who would 
not ? This appealing question from heaven to 
earth proceeds on the fact, that all have the 
opportunity of fearing and glorifying God. And 
this is the fact, whatever any one may fancy 
to the contrary. The poorest, the busiest, the 
most tried have abundant opportunity for at- 
tending to the salvation and service of God. 
For true religion is not something which takes 
a mother out of her family, or a father away 
from his business, or a servant from her work. 
It is not a tax on our time, nor a hinderance to 
our duties or interests ; for what real interest 
could the fear of God hinder or injure? Not 
your business ; for it would bring the blessing 
of God on your industry : not your families ; 
for the curse of God is denounced against the 
families who call not on his name. 

Glorified spirits in heaven understand this 
fully, and therefore exclaim, "Who shall not 
fear thee?" And bear in mind, those who said 

T 



202 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

so in the hearing of John came out of great tri- 
bulation* The greater part of them had feared 
God in deep poverty, and glorified him in the 
fires of martyrdom. They remember this ; and 
knowing that they managed to unite piety with 
suffering, and devotion with diligence, they feel 
sure that we have the opportunity of doing so 
too, and appeal to us accordingly. And they 
can appeal with a good conscience : for many 
of them had to forsake all to follow Christ ; 
whereas we have only to forsake sin, sloth, and 
evil habits ; to forsake nothing that is really 
creditable or useful to us. 

The appealing question proceeds on the fact, 
that ability to fear and glorify God is attainable 
by all. Without ability, opportunity however 
great would be useless. Now, although we 
have not ability by nature, we may obtain it by 
grace ; for in all things wherein man cannot 
help himself, God has provided abundant help, 
which is always forthcoming in answer to prayer. 
We are, naturally and morally, unable to atone 
for our sins ; and therefore no atonement is 
demanded from us : but a free pardon is offered 
to all who rely on the atonement of Christ. We 



THE NEW SONG. 203 

are unable to change or sanctify our own 
hearts ; and therefore, the Holy Spirit is pro- 
mised to do so to them who ask him. We are 
unable to persevere in the ways of God ; and 
therefore, the power of God is pledged to keep 
unto the end all the followers of Christ. We 
are unable to turn unto the Lord with all our 
heart ; and therefore, we are allowed to apply 
to God, praying, " Turn thou me, and I shall 
be turned/' 

Now, of the ampleness, freeness and suffi- 
ciency of this provided and promised mercy 
and grace, glorified spirits have had ample ex- 
perience ; and knowing that the provision is 
still open and free to all who ask, they appeal 
to every one, " Who shall not fear God?" All 
may, for all can, by asking for needful grace 
to help. 

Weigh the appeal. The glorified Romans 
say, " We were justified by faith in Christ; you 
are not guiltier." The glorified Ephesians, 
" We were quickened by the Holy Spirit ; you 
were not more dead in sin." The glorified 
Corinthians, " We were washed and sanctified ; 
you are not viler-." The glorified Colossians, 



204 RELATIVE APPEALS OF 

" We were reconciled by the blood of Christ ; 
you are not greater enemies in your minds." 
Thus the cloud of witnesses cry down from their 
thrones, " The blood of Christ cleanseth from 
all sin ; the Spirit of Christ from all iniquity ; 
ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and find." The 
appealing question is founded on the fact, that 
fearing and glorifying God on earth are sure to 
be followed by the soul being glorified by God 
in heaven. 

We have seen that the fear of God in the 
heart is favourable to all our best interests in 
this world, and in the world to come it will be 
crowned with glory, honour, immortality, and 
eternal life. Thus they found it to be, who 
appeal to us from heaven ; and being in heaven, 
how can they but appeal to us ? Every thing 
kindles and compels the question, Who shall 
not fear and glorify God ? Wherever glorified 
spirits look, the question is forced from them. 
They cannot be silent in heaven on this point. 
The glories of the eternal throne when the 
Godhead is unveiled say, Cry ! All the foun- 
tains of living water on the hills of immortality 
and the river of life say, Cry ! All the man- 



THE NEW SONG. 205 

sions, crowns, and harps of glory say, Cry ! 
All the bright hierarchy of angels and archan- 
gels, cherubim and seraphim, say to the spirits 
of "just men," Cry ! cry down from your 
thrones to your posterity and species on earth, 
Who shall not fear and glorify the God who 
freely bestows eternal glory ! 



206 



J30. JUL. 

ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 

The scriptural history of redemption is, that 
in order to save men from the punishment and 
the pollution of sin, the Eternal Son of God 
became incarnate and was crucified, and thus 
glorified the righteousness of the law by his life, 
and satisfied the claims of justice by his death. 
Now this is a fact so amazing and magnificent 
—so solemn and mysterious, that it compels a 
thoughtful man to pause and ask, Is sin then 
such an evil as to require such an atonement as 
the blood of Emmanuel 1 There is indeed much 
sin in the world ; but could it not have been 
both pardoned and removed by something less 
than the sacrifice of the Lamb of God? 

This difficulty is chiefly felt, when we con- 
nect the necessity of his sacrifice with the first 



ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 207 

sin. To us the guilt seems so little, and the 
atonement so great, that at first we do not see 
the proportion between them. Nor is it at once 
that we see, so as to feel it deeply, how our own 
sins should require such an atonement. We see 
clearly in the Bible, that all the hope given to 
Adam or to ourselves is founded upon that 
atonement ; but why it should be so is not so 
self-evident. Some who have felt this difficulty 
have so given way to it, as to deny that any 
such atonement was made or wanted. But con- 
sider the necessity for redemption being by 
the blood of Emmanuel. The grand and final 
object of redemption is eternal holiness and hap- 
piness in heaven. Hence it is called eternal 
redemption : that is, eternal deliverance from 
sin and suffering. 

Now the real question is, What could secure 
this everlasting deliverance from all guilt and 
all misery ? It may be very easy to show how 
we could be made better than we are, and happier 
than we are, at a less expense than the sacrifice 
of Christ ; but it is impossible to show how we 
could be made eternally holy, or eternally 
happy, by any other means. 



208 ETERNAL HEDEJtfPTION. 

God could no doubt by an act of mere power, 
make us as perfect as Adam, or as angels, at 
theif creation. That however would be no se- 
curity for our remaining/or ever perfect. Hu- 
man perfection did not last long, even in Para- 
dise. Even angelic perfection did not last long 
in the heaven of heavens. Satan and his angels 
sinned and fell even there. It is therefore felf- 
evident, that something is wanted, in order to 
secure eternal bliss, more effectual than all the 
effulgence of all the created and uncreated 
glories of heaven. Neither being in heaven, 
nor like heaven, kept angels from becoming 
devils. 

Tell me not therefore about what knowledge 
can do ; or what example can do ; or what 
power can do ; they have all been undone by 
those who had them all in perfection. Unless 
therefore, this undoing is to go on through all 
eternity, there must be something done for man, 
which cannot be undone by man, nor ever lose 
its power over him. That something is the in- 
fluence of the death of Christ. This is the 
magnet which will make all right, and keep all 
right in heaven for ever and ever. 



ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 209 

This necessity is self-evident, from the charac- 
ter and design of the eternal law. The sub- 
stance of that law is, supreme love to God and 
impartial love to each other. Thus it is good, 
and its tendency good. It will therefore be the 
royal law of heaven through eternity. Obedi- 
ence to it will be the everlasting bond of union 
between God and man, and the immutable safe- 
guard of all the happiness in the universe. 

Now one grand object of redemption is to en- 
throne this law in our hearts, for eternal domi- 
nion ; or to bring us so under its holy and sweet 
authority, that it shall never be broken, for- 
gotten or resisted. Without such eternal sub- 
jection to the Divine law, there could be no 
eternal happiness even in heaven. Ceasing to 
love God, or to love each other, would break 
up heaven, or lead to expulsion from it. Now 
the real question is, What could secure to the 
law an eternity of perfect and cheerful obedi- 
ence ? And we know of nothing human or Di- 
vine that could secure it, but the moral influence 
of the blood of Christ in the hearts of the re- 
deemed. Happiness has failed ; perfection failed ; 
heaven failed, to prevent disobedience to the law 



210 ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 

of love. Unless therefore, there was to be an 
endless succession of these disgraceful failures, 
and the universe to go on increasing with fallen 
worlds, and felon consciences, it was necessary 
to adopt some plan for the establishment of this 
law, which can never be defeated nor defied, 
when the bliss of heaven begins. 

Now that plan is, the obedience of Christ to 
the authority of the law, and the death of Christ 
to the curse of the law. These stupendous and 
infinite acts of homage to the Divine law, will 
support its supremacy for ever, through all the 
redeemed and unfallen universe of God : and 
make it as morally impossible, through eternity, 
for man or angel to sin or fall, as for God to lie 
or die. 

O they are dupes of some passion, or dolts in 
some power of the mind, who talk of producing 
eternal obedience by the force of any other 
means than the " constraining love of Christ." 
All other means have been tried and have failed. 
Temptation vanquished Adam in his best estate, 
and angels in their first estate ; and therefore, 
were we and all mankind placed as they were, 
there would be no certainty of our acting better 



ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 211 

than they did ; and thus no security for eternal 
happiness, which is God's grand object. 

Some one may say, Why not prevent all 
temptation, and thus render it impossible for us 
to err or disobey? Would not that be easier 
than binding us by the blood of the Lamb? If 
you understand your own question, it amounts 
to asking, Why not make beasts of us by taking 
away reason and conscience at once ? If you 
now understand the nature and design of the 
eternal law in reference to the eternal heaven, 
—it will be easy to show you that the death of 
Christ could alone restore or establish the au- 
thority of that law in the heart of man. 

Our hearts dislike it. They have no incli- 
nation to love God supremely. Now the real 
question is, how this aversion to God can be 
removed for ever ? It does not go away of itself. 
It does not yield to time nor to experience. It 
must however be entirely and everlastingly 
overcome, if we are to spend our immortality 
with God. Hating, or not loving God will 
not do in heaven. It makes sad work even on 
earth. 

What then can produce in our hearts supreme 



212 ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 

love to God ? Now the most likely way that 
can be conceived is, by making our hearts good, 
or removing from them every wrong disposition. 
Well, suppose this were done by a direct act of 
Divine power, our hearts would be no better 
than those of angels and Adam ; and therefore, 
we should be still in as much danger of ceasing 
to love God as they were. 

Its necessity will appear farther from the na- 
ture and effects of sin. Now the first effect of 
the first sin was, fear of the presence of God. 
And ever since it has been proverbial that fear 
accompanies guilt. The guilty both dread and 
dislike to think of God. And this shrinking 
aversion increases as guilt accumulates, until 
the very idea of God is hated or banished. 

Thus sin alienates the mind from God : lead- 
ing us to regard him as a hard master, and a 
severe judge. Now the real question is, How 
can this dread and distrust of God be put an 
eternal end to ? I say, an eternal end to, because 
an eternal heaven requires that there shall ne- 
ver be one feeling of terror or suspicion rise up 
in the mind of the saved. 

Such being the case, nothing can be an effec- 



ETERNAL REDEMPTION, 213 

tual remedy for sin, but what shall efface and 
prevent for ever all doubt and distrust of God. 
Now it cannot be proved that mercy, apart from 
the atonement, could do this ; nor that any de- 
gree of kindness could do it ; nor that any degree 
of glory could do it. 

It is very easy to say or think, that it would 
be the same to us, however we were saved : the 
same to us however we get to heaven. Re- 
member, we have not yet seen heaven, nor the 
God of heaven; and therefore, we cannot tell 
what effect the sight would have upon us. We 
know that glimpses of his glory well nigh over- 
whelmed Moses, and Isaiah, and Job. It is easy 
to talk of trusting God, while God is invisible, or 
the mind little impressed by his majesty. But 
it requires more than a mighty effort to do so, 
when the Divine character is vividly present to 
the mind and conscience. Something is wanted 
therefore, which shall put mind and conscience 
as much at ease before God, through all eter- 
nity, as the hearts of angels are : and even mer- 
cy, apart from the atonement of Christ, could 
not do that ; because the bestowment of mercy 
would, in that case, be an unconfirmed gift, 
u 



214 ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 

which like innocence might be lost again. And 
thus there would be dread and suspicion of God 
still. 

" But if the gift were confirmed, by the word 
or oath of God, to endure for ever, would not 
that prevent them ?" No ; you forget again the 
history of the moral universe. Suspicion sprung 
up in the minds of angels and of our first pa- 
rents. Both suspected that God kept back from 
them something good for them. Both imagined 
that there was something better to be got, than 
all that was given them. And just so might,' 
and most probably would a world saved by 
mere mercy suspect and imagine that they could 
rise higher than that mercy had placed them. 
The fate of Satan and his angels, as an exam- 
ple, could not inevitably prevent this. But the 
death of Christ will prevent all this for ever. 
With that before them, they can never imagine 
another Redemption ; can never doubt the love 
of God ; can never conceive of anything beyond 
blood-bought bliss. 

Its necessity will appear farther from the per- 
fection and glory of the Divine character. That 
character is to be eternally before all the intel- 



ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 215 

ligent universe of God, both the saved and lost ; 
and before them, so as to secure the homage of 
both for ever. Yes ; it must command the ho- 
mage of all hell, as well as of all heaven, through 
eternity. 

Now, apart from the atonement, it could not 
secure for a certainty and for ever the homage 
of heaven. Both its holiness and justice would 
be doubted by saints and angels, if sinners were 
saved without an atonement. The joy of salva- 
tion would not prevent this. The thought would 
inevitably occur and recur, just in proportion to 
the powers of saints and angels, — " Sin cannot 
be very hateful to God, seeing it has been par- 
doned, apart from any satisfaction to law or jus- 
tice !" And then must come the staggering 
question, Why are any punished for sin, if par- 
don costs nothing but good will ? 

Were this the character of God, it would not 
be respected one day, by one angel ; nor one year, 
by the sinners who were saved by its mercy. 
But all such reflections and suspicions will be 
impossible, in the presence of the Lamb slain. 
His sufferings will for ever pour such a flood of 
light upon the evil of sin, and thus upon the per- 



216 ETERNAL REDEMPTION. 

fection of holiness and justice, that neither saint 
nor angel will ever be at a loss to comprehend, 
how God can be equally just and merciful ; nor 
why mercy could not extend to the negleeters 
of the great salvation. Thus the whole of the 
Divine character will bear the eternal scrutiny, 
and command the eternal homage, of all heaven, 
when all heaven is concentrated and vying in 
contemplating and searching out its- glories. 



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